RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Tuesday approved a five-year extension of the lease contract of Saindak Copper Gold project between Saindak Metals Limited and Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd. (MCC).

The meeting of federal cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was informed that the existing lease agreement term would expire on October 31, 2017.

Secretary, Power Division gave a detailed presentation on the current and future demand and supply situation of the power sector and maintained that the present government would add more than 11,500MW electricity to the system by June 2018.

The meeting was stated that more than 6,100MW had already been added to the system by June 2017. Power Ministry maintained that by November of this year, load-shedding would be reduced to negligible level and presented a briefing to the cabinet on improvements in transmission and distribution system.

The Cabinet discussed various issues related to the power sector and appreciated the efforts made by the Ministry of Energy.  The Cabinet approved the issuance of Policy Directive to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) under Section 8 of the PTA (Re-Organization) Act, 1996 to enable market testing of 5G technology within the regulatory environment and ensure that the new technology is ready of the market.

As soon as the meeting began, the Prime Minister took his cabinet into confidence about his visit to the US and stated that Pakistan’s point of view on long-standing issue of Jammu and Kashmir, gross human rights violations at Indian Occupied Kashmir, belligerent attitude of India, peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region, and the plight of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar was effectively presented.

The Prime Minister also briefed the Cabinet about his bilateral meetings on the side lines of UNGA Session, particularly the meetings with the US Vice President, Presidents of Iran and Turkey, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, CEO of the World Bank, Executive Chairman of World Economic Forum, UN Secretary General and the King of Jordan. 

He said that during bilateral meetings, he emphasized that Pakistan wants a continued engagement with regional as well as international powers based on mutual respect, equality and partnership. He underlined the need that international community to appreciate and acknowledge the huge sacrifices and contributions made by Pakistan for regional peace and stability.

The meeting approved the appointment of Rizwan Mir as the Chief Executive Officer, Universal Service Fund under the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication.

The Cabinet, on the recommendation of Defence Ministry, approved the appointment of Air Commodore Shams-ul-Haq as Member of Commercial and Air Commodore Aamir Habib Ullah Maken as Member Technical of Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) Board Kamra.

The Cabinet also accorded the approval of the appointment of Raja Pervaiz Akhter, District and Session Judge, as a Judge of Special Court (Control of Narcotics Substances) Rawalpindi , on the recommendation of the Lahore High Court, Lahore .

Appointment of Rai Nazir Ahmed, District and Session Judge, as the Judge Banking Court-II Lahore was also approved by the Federal Cabinet.

The Cabinet approved a proposal by the Finance Division that would enable the Auditor General of Pakistan to sign an MoU with his Indonesian counterpart on Cooperation in public sector auditing.

To expedite the process of development, the Cabinet approved a proposal to amend guidelines regarding implementation of projects under the Prime Minister’s Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Achievement Programme. According to the decision taken by the Cabinet, the competent authority/forum would be authorized to approve schemes costing over Rs. 30 million.

The Cabinet also ratified decisions of Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) held on 29th August, 2017 and Cabinet Committee on Energy during its meeting dated 6th September, 2017.

The Cabinet also approved a proposal allowing persons with special needs (physically impaired, hearing/speech impaired and visually impaired) to compete in the competitive examination against all occupational groups/services.