Daily Times

The federal cabinet, while taking strong exception to the publication of blasphemous caricatures in France and hurting the sentiments of Muslims, on Tuesday said disrespect for the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was intolerable and unacceptable for any Muslim.

The cabinet, which met here with Prime Minister Imran Khan in chair, also condemned in the strongest terms the remarks of French President Emmanuel Macron that hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims.

During the meeting, it was reiterated that every available forum would be used for effective representation of the sentiments of Muslims regarding the blasphemous caricatures.

In that regard, the reservations of Pakistani nation as well as Muslim Ummah would be conveyed to the world through the platform of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The Ministry of National Food Security briefed the cabinet in detail about the procurement and availability of wheat. It was told that the availability of 1.5 million metric tons of wheat would be ensured by January 31, 2021.

The Ministry of Commerce briefed the cabinet about the schedule of wheat import and told that all consignments would arrive on time.

The Ministry of Industries and Production apprised the cabinet about the import and availability of sugar. It was told that 266,939 metric tons of sugar was available in the country at present.

The cabinet was further informed that the private sector had already imported 99,639 metric tons sugar while another 52,951 metric tons would be available in the month of November.

It was told that the required 300,000 metric tons of sugar would be available by November 30, 2020. The prime minister directed to formulate an organized and coordinated mechanism for timely assessment of the requirements of wheat and sugar in the country, including the needs of all provinces. He said in order to overcome the shortages, hurdlers in the way of imports should be eliminated. He particularly stressed on ensuring the import of quality wheat.

The prime minister directed the ministries to fill all vacant posts of chief executive officers (CEOs) and managing directors within three months, and submit reports in the next cabinet meeting entailing reasons for not filling the vacancies.

The Establishment Division presented a detailed briefing over the vacant posts in various ministries, divisions and allied departments. It was apprised that a total of 129 posts of CEOs and managing directors had been lying vacant in the Federal Government institutions whereas 33 seats among them had been vacant since merger of different departments.

The relevant authorities from the Ministry of Law and Justice gave a briefing to the cabinet about reforms in the Pakistan Penal Code and other laws. The cabinet directed for presenting of the reforms documents before the cabinet committee on legal reforms and submission of the same before the cabinet for approval within three months.

The cabinet also gave its approval for the proposed amendments in the International Civil Aviation Convention which were presented by the Ministry of Aviation. It also approved four inspection companies to pre-examine batch of imported wheat by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan.

The cabinet accorded its approval over exporting animals to the Gulf countries. It also approved requests for mutual legal cooperation made by Peru, Hungry and Colombia to the Government of Pakistan. It referred the issuance of policy matter under the Telecommunication Act 1996 to its legal reforms committee and it would take a decision after receiving recommendations from the committee.