ISLAMABAD  -  The Federal Cabinet has allowed the state-controlled broadcaster Paki­stan Television Corporation to make payments to foreign broadcasters for broadcasting rights of different sports events. The cabinet, which met in Islamabad on Thursday with Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar in the chair, also ap­proved transit of spare parts and new tyres from Karachi Port to Ka­bul for the vehicles of the United Na­tions Development Program’s coun­try office in Afghanistan. It was told that such imports and their trans­fer to Afghanistan are prohibited to prevent smuggling in the country. However, under the United Nations Development Programme, the said spare parts and tires will be used by the United Nations and not for com­mercial use. Upon the Ministry of De­fense Production’s recommendation, senior civil servant Khan Nawaz of the Secretariat Group has been re-appointed as the Member Finance in the Heavy Industry Taxila.

On the Ministry of Finance’s rec­ommendations, Shahbir Ahmed Rindiri, a sponsoring shareholder of JS Bank, has been granted an excep­tion under Section (IV)(1)14 of the Banking Companies Ordinance. Un­der this exception, Shahbir Ahmed will exercise his voting rights as a sponsoring shareholder with a 7.06% stake in JS Bank Limited.

The cabinet on the recommenda­tions of Ministry of Interior’s pro­posal, gave approval of extradition of dual citizenship holder and ac­cused Irfan Qadir Bhatti to Norway. 

The Cabinet revealed that the ac­cused is allegedly involved in ter­rorism as disclosed by Norwegian government to Pakistan. 

Additional Deputy Commission­er Islamabad was appointed as the inquiry officer, and after investiga­tion, it was found that the accused is involved in terrorist activities and other illegal operations. In the light of this information, the Federal Cab­inet granted approval for the extra­dition of the accused to Norway.

In accordance with the recom­mendations of Ministry of Poverty Alleviation, Syed Tariq Muhammad Al-Hassan has been appointed as the Managing Director of Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal on the vacant position.

The Federal Cabinet confirmed the decisions made in the Cabinet Committee on Energy’s meeting on February 6, 2024, and in the Cabi­net Committee on Legislative Cases’ meeting on February 7, 2024. The decisions made in the Cabinet Com­mittee on Anti-Corruption’s meeting on February 7, 2024, were also ap­proved by the Federal Cabinet.

The Economic Coordination Com­mittee’s decisions from the meet­ings on February 7, 2024, and Feb­ruary 14, 2024, were also approved by the Federal Cabinet.

PM MEETING WITH STEEL INDUSTRY DELEGATION

Later, talking to a delegation of Pa­kistan Association of Large Steel Producers led by Senator Nauman Wazir, the PM asked the companies associated with the steel industry to prioritize investments for de­velopment of raw iron deposits in the country. He said the caretaker government within its short ten­ure, took all possible measures to restore the economy of Pakistan. He also said the government has taken steps to create conducive environment for business by pro­viding facilities to the private and business sector to increase the country’s exports, tax revenue em­ployment opportunities. 

Kakar said all steps taken under the Special Investment Facilitation Council are yielding positive re­sults. He said the business commu­nity and investors supported Paki­stan in difficult times. The Prime Minister directed the relevant de­partments to resolve all issues re­lated to the steel industry on pri­ority basis. The steel producers’ delegation appreciated the efforts of the caretaker government to fa­cilitate investment in the country especially by resolving problems of industrialists and reforming the FBR. They especially lauded the steps to prevent smuggling of steel, due to which the country’s industry benefited greatly. Discussing prob­lems faced by the industry, the dele­gation also presented some propos­als and suggestions in this regard.