Transfer of five regulatory bodies to ministries unconstitutional: Senate on February 21, 2017ISLAMABAD: Giving his ruling, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani on Monday termed the transfer of five regularity bodies to relevant ministries as unconstitutional without the Council of Common Interest’s approval. Over placing the five regulatory bodies under the administrative control of the line ministries, Raza Rabbani ruled that regulatory bodies could not be transferred to ministries […]
Senate passes Hindu Marriage Bill, 2016 on February 18, 2017ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Friday passed “The Hindu Marriage Bill, 2016”. Moved by Law Minister Zahid Hamid, the bill provides for solemnisation of marriages by Hindu families. The minister said the bill will institutionalise marriages of the Hindu community. He said there was no documentation previously in this regard. He pointed out that the bill […]
Senators from Balochistan, Sindh express reservations on February 16, 2017ISLAMABAD: As the government has announced the schedule for holding census across the country, parliamentarians belonging to Balochistan and Sindh on Thursday expressed some reservations and claimed that under the current circumstances it would be difficult to conduct transparent counting. Senator Mir Kabeer Ahmed Muhammad Shahi of the National Party (NP) submitted an adjourned motion […]
Senate body probing PIA plane’s sale to German firm on February 16, 2017ISLAMABAD: The Upper House of parliament on Wednesday was informed that serious violations were committed while selling an Airbus A-310 aircraft to a German firm, and Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani directed a Special Committee of Parliament on PIA to probe into the matter. Rabbani also directed the committee to submit the report within 30 […]
Merge FATA with KP or face the sit-in on February 15, 2017 ISLAMABAD: Opposition on Tuesday staged a walkout from the Senate for removing the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) reforms from the cabinet agenda. The session was presided over by Senate Deputy Chairman Abdul Ghafoor Haideri. On a point of order, Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Ilyas Bilour said that a committee had been formed […]
Senators express concern over non-implementation of NAP on February 13, 2017ISLAMABAD: The Senate was informed on Monday that the government had established a helpline to receive people’s complaints and to this effect about 250,000 calls were received which also covered complaints regarding hate speech. Over the complaints to helpline 1717, a number of arrests have also been made and substantial hate material has been seized. […]
KP CS asked to pay one-year salary to WWS teachers on February 10, 2017ISLAMABAD: The Senate’s Functional Committee on Devolution on Thursday asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) chief secretary (CS) to pay one-year salaries to teachers working under the worker welfare schools (WWS). The committee held its meeting in Parliament House headed by Senator Kabeer Muhammad Shahi. The body was informed that during the previous KP governments, some […]
NA passes bill to protect womens rights on February 8, 2017ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Tuesday passed The National Commission on the Status of Women (Amendment) Bill, 2016. The bill was moved by MQM lawmaker Dr Nikhat Shakeel Khan to amend the National Commission on the Status of Women Act, 2012. She said the National Commission on the Status of Women was established to protect […]
NA deplores world silence on Kashmir on February 7, 2017ISLAMABAD: Legislators in the Lower House of parliament on Monday passed a unanimous resolution deploring the continuous silence of the international community on the ongoing rights violations perpetrated by Indian forces in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK). Condemning the brutalities of occupation forces, the lawmakers expressed solidarity with the Kashmiri brethren in their just struggle for their […]
Lower House gives constitutional cover to jirga, panchayat systems on February 4, 2017ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Friday passed ‘The Alternate Dispute Resolution Bill, 2017’ with some amendments, giving constitutional cover to the jirga and panchayat systems. Law Minister Zahid Hamid moved the bill and termed it “important and historic”, having components of conciliation, arbitration and panchayat. He said the bill was according to the manifesto of […]