IN a welcome move, the government has showed its readiness to withdraw some clauses of the electoral reforms bill on which the opposition and the Election Commission of Pakistan had raised objections. During a meeting of the Senate standing committee on parliamentary affairs, Minister of State Ali Muhammad Khan said the government would not pursue anything which is against the Constitution. The committee has started the process of going over all the clauses of the bill one by one. One of the most important of these clauses pertains to giving the right to vote to overseas Pakistanis. The PTI government has fervently pushed for this initiative while the opposition, although it agrees with the principle, wants greater clarity on the issue. Such clarity is essential because there are various aspects of the proposal that need to be thoroughly debated.
KARACHI: Pakistan is making substantial progress in developing its financial sector on the back of regulatory improvements and other reforms, according to the Economic Survey 2020/21 released on.
Islamabad: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday launched two new digital initiatives to help expatriates, including car financing scheme for their family members back home and digital donation platform.
The initiatives were announced at a ceremony to mark the milestone of US$1 billion deposits in Roshan Digital Accounts – which offers expats banking and investment facilities in Pakistan. The event was held to express gratitude to the overseas Pakistanis for their extraordinary response to the initiative and to pledge the government’s support to them.
Overseas Pakistanis are country’s most valuable asset
Describing the nine million overseas Pakistanis as the country’s “biggest asset”, Khan thanked them, saying that their remittances had kept afloat the national economy during difficult times. Inflows of foreign exchange through the Roshan Digital Account (RDA) recently crossed the $1 billion mark in just over seven months, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)
CAA notifies ban on Indian travellers
Includes country in Category ‘C’ countries
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan has banned travellers from India due to a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases over there.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Tuesday issued a new travel guide in which it included India in the list of Category ‘C’ countries in the wake of the third dangerous wave of the coronavirus and extended restrictions till April 24.
According to the new travel guidelines issued by the CAA Director Air Traffic Irfan Sabir, “With the latest inclusion of India in the list, the number of countries in Category C have reached 23.”
A nurse holds a phial of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at Guy s Hospital in London on Dec 8, 2020. AP/File
ISLAMABAD: The government will start vaccinating people aged 60 and above against Covid-19 on Wednesday (today), Dr Faisal Sultan, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health, said in a tweet.
“Pak Covid-19 vaccination, next phase starting 10 March, inshallah. Beginning with the senior most citizens, who will receive SMS with instructions on their cell phones,” the SAPM tweeted.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had inaugurated the coronavirus vaccination campaign for frontline health care workers (HCWs) on Feb 2 when Dr Rana Imran was given a jab with Chinese fi rm Sinopharm’s vaccine at the Prime Minister’s Office. Vaccinations started across the country the next day, but the authorities had second thoughts after a study concluded that the vaccine was not suitable for the elderly.