Daily Times

The President of Pakistan has signed the following 31 bills passed by the Parliament.

The bills include: The Privatization Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Port Qasim Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Islamabad Capital Territory Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill, 2021, The International Court of Justice (Review and Re-Consideration) Bill, 2021, The SBP Banking Services Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Corporate Restructuring Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2021, COVID-19 (Prevention of Hoarding) Bill, 2021, The Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Bill, 2021, The Islamabad Capital Territory Charities Registration, Regulation and Facilitation Bill, 2021, The Islamabad Rent Restriction (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2021,

The Federal Public Service Commission (Validation of Rules), Bill, 2021, The Loans for Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Purposes Amendment Bill, 2021, The National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Islamabad Capital Territory Food Safety Bill, 2021, The Emigration (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Pakistan Academy of Letters (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Gwadar Port Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Maritime Security Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2021, the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021, the Financial Institutions (Secured Transactions) (Amendment) Bill, 2021, the University of Islamabad Bill, 2021, the Al-Karam International Institute Bill, 2021, The National College of Arts Institute Bill, 2021, The Hyderabad Institute for Technology and Management Sciences Bill, 2021, Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Provincial Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Unani, Ayurvedic and Homeopathic Practitioners (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Muslim Family Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and The Muslim Family Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021. The above Bills were passed by the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) under clause (3) of Article 70 of the Constitution in joint sitting held on November 17, 2021.

Meanwhile, President Dr Arif Alvi Wednesday here gave his assent to the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Bill to safeguard the rights of working journalists. The President signed the legislation at a ceremony attended by cabinet ministers and a large number of journalists and media professionals.

The bill focused on protecting lives of journalists, saving them from harassment and torture and ensuring their welfare by giving facilities of life and health insurance.

The President said he was very happy to sign the historic bill.

He said for the last 60-70 years, the journalists raised issues and after which mafias of all kinds killed, harassed and tortured them.

People put pressure on journalists to stop them from exposing their mistakes, he added.

President Dr Arif Alvi addressing the signing ceremony of the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Act, 2021, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, on 01-12-2021.

The President underlined the need for a culture of tolerance for journalists because they were only doing reporting and disseminating information. The President said he came to know that a consensus was built among the stakeholders on the bill.

“Everybody is unanimous in protecting the rights of journalists,” he stressed.

While explaining features of the act, he said the act gave protection of life to journalists. “This right to life is important as the journalists worked in hazardous conditions and with neutrality,” he added.

The President said that the government and the media owners had now more responsibility to protect the lives of journalists.

The act also protected the journalists’ right to not disclose their information which was important for maintaining freedom of expression, he added.

“The act also provided a comprehensive definition of journalists and media professionals.”

The President said debate on disclosure of information would continue in the society in future as well. He said the act also gave journalists independence, adding the law also protected journalists against intolerant behavior, violence and harassment. Under the act, welfare of the journalists would be ensured and an independent media commission would be formed.

The act would also take care of the protection of rights of the genders. He said fake news was an issue and Holy Quran also warned against fake news as it could create chaos and wars between the nations.

The war in Iraq happened due to fake news about the weapons of mass destruction, he added. The President said that damage was also done to Afghanistan because to fake news and now in this age, the instruments and efficacy of news mediums had changed and fake news were more prevalent.