Pakistan Okays Nankana-Amritsar Bus Service
PakistanTimes.net Federal Bureau Report

ISLAMABAD: Federal cabinet has approved the bill for regulation and registration of the private educational institutions and launching of Nankana-Amritsar bus service.

The Federal Cabinet which met here with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in the chair at Prime Minister also approved Regulation Bill- 005 for private educational institutions.

Education Minister while giving briefing to the Cabinet in this respect said, all the private educational institutions will be registered following the passage of this bill by the Parliament.

The bill is aimed to regulate educational facilities, fee structure and education standard of private educational institutions and bringing an end to the fake institutions which charge heavy fee from the students but pay no attention to impart quality education. This bill will be tabled in next session of National Assembly.

Minister for Privatization Hafiz Sheikh gave detailed briefing to the cabinet on matters related to PTCL privatization, agreement with Etisalat and payment of amount.

Sheikh told that he was engaged in talks with Etisalat management. Talks will be held again on November, 5 or 6 after Eid-ul-Fitr and efforts will be made to resolve the matter with mutual understanding.

The Federal Cabinet appreciated the opening of relief camps at five points along the Line of Control where relief and medical assistance will be available to the affected people.

Specific Points on LoC

The opening of the specific points on the LoC will also facilitate the meeting of the divided families, the Cabinet noted.

Foreign Secretary briefed the Cabinet regarding the procedure, agreed upon by the two governments to facilitate the cross-LoC movement of the earthquake victims, especially the members of the divided families.

The cabinet ratified the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Privatization of the 73% shares of the Karachi Electricity Company to Hassan Associate Consortium, which includes the prominent Saudi Group Al-Jomiah.

The Prime Minister appreciated the efforts of Privatization Commission for the success of the landmark transaction. The successful completion of this sale will send a very strong single to the investor community both at home and abroad.

The total proceeds and injections into the company will be over Rs 20 billion. The privatization of KESC will definitely lead to better quality of service for the public.

Eid with Solemnity

To express the solidarity with the earthquake affectees, the Cabinet reiterated to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr with sobriety and solemnity and decided that there will no functions at the official level.

It was decided that the Cabinet members will spend Eid with the victims in the earthquake stricken areas and share the grief with the people who had been suffered devastation of unprecedented scale.

They will also visit hospitals, schools, orphan homes, crisis centre and tentage villages on the day.

The Cabinet also reviewed the relief operations and expressed its satisfaction over the pace of distribution of tents, blankets and other material required to face the severity of the winter.

The Cabinet was informed that about 265,000 tents, and 3.3 million blankets have already been distributed and the government will ensure the availability of the blankets and tents to every one during this month as the government has firmed up the arrangements for assured supply, both from domestic and foreign sources.

The Cabinet approved the federalization of Hoshab-Panjgur Nag-Baseema Sorab Road, which will provide an efficient means of transportation up to Gwadar Port.

The Gwadar Port has immense commercial potential, which will create a lot of economic activity in the country in general and in the province of Balochistan in particular.

The Cabinet expressed its firm resolve that the government will ensure that no one faces starvation in the earthquake stricken areas.

Global Pledges

It was informed that so far the international community has pledged two billions dollars for the relief and reconstruction and more than six billion rupees have been deposited in the President’s Relief Fund 2005.

To ensure the smooth functioning of the District Public Safety and Police Complaints Commissions, the Cabinet approved the amendments in the Police Order 2002.

The Cabinet also approved the signing of an MoU on the establishment of a pilit ARD/Mediation Centre at Karachi, funded by the International Finance Corporation.

For discouraging frivolous litigations and curtailing delay in trial of Civil Cases, the Cabinet approved amendments to the Small Claims and Minor Offences Court Ordinance 2002.

For the promotion of textile sector, the Cabinet made amendments in the Cotton Standardization Ordinance 2002.

The approval of the Cabinet in the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority Ordinance 1982 will entitle the Authority to deposit its funds with any scheduled banks operating in Pakistan.

The Cabinet accorded its ex-post factor approval for signing of Trade Agreement between Pakistan and Iran including its ratification.

In view of the growing size of the ASEAN market, the Cabinet gave its approval for setting up of Joint Study Group and to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement and Early Harvest Programme with Thailand.

The Cabinet gave its approval for initiation of negotiations to conclude comprehensive agreement between Pakistan and Greece for avoidance of double taxation.

The Cabinet ratified the convention between Pakistan and Yemen for the avoidance of double taxation.●