National broadband policy being ‘finalised’
Senate panel informed 5G will be auctioned by 2023, small IT companies will be listed on the stock market
ISLAMABAD:
The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology has been informed that the federal government is finalising the national broadband policy, 5G will be auctioned by 2023 and small IT companies will be listed on the stock market.
“IT exports have crossed $2 billion for the first time and next year s target is $3.5 billion,” a meeting of the standing committee held under the chairmanship of Senator Kauda Babar at the Parliament House was informed on Thursday.
Leader of the House Senator Shehzad Waseem, senators Rubina Khalid, Sana Jamali, Sami Azdi, Sania Nishtar, Palwasha Muhammad Zai Khan, Shahadat Awan and Afnanullah Khan besides IT ministry secretary, additional secretary, PTA chairman, Universal Service Fund chairman, representatives of cellular companies and other officials attended the meeting.
The MV Heng Tong cargo ship stranded on Sea View beach, Karachi. Shazia Hasan/File
ISLAMABAD: The government has informed a parliamentary committee that salvaging the cargo vessel, which ran aground at the Seaview beach, Karachi, was the responsibility of the ship’s owners and the insurance company.
The Senate Standing Committee on Maritime Affairs met here on Wednesday for a briefing on the vessel that has become an environmental hazard.
Ministry of Maritime Affairs Secretary Rizwan Ahmed said that Heng Tong 77 was going to Istanbul, Turkey, from Shanghai, China, and did not enter the Karachi Port. It was in Pakistani waters for change of crew members. The rough sea caused the vessel to lose its anchors and it started drifting towards shallow water.
July 26, 2021
ISLAMABAD: The main opposition parties, PML-N and PPP, Sunday expressed serious reservations over the election results in Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) and accused the PTI-led government of systematic rigging in the election for the Legislative Assembly.
Two people were killed due to clashes between political activists and several others were injured.
However, AJK Chief Election Commissioner Justice Abdul Rasheed Sulheria told the media during a polling station visit that polling remained peaceful at 99 percent polling stations, as he had been receiving reports. Some minor incidents of violence and stoppage of polling were reported to him at a few polling stations and he was taking cognizance of them and due process of law would be applied to ensure transparency of polling, he promised.
ISLAMABAD: The country’s major opposition parties have expressed concerns over the statement of Prime Minister Imran Khan regarding the future status of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and asked him for an explanation to parliament over his remarks.
The reaction came from leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Saturday, a day after the prime minister while addressing two election rallies in the towns of Tarar Khal and Kotli in AJK on Friday reiterated an earlier commitment to the Kashmiris and assured them that Islamabad would grant them the right to live as an independent nation if they decided to do so even after acceding to Pakistan through the United Nations-sponsored plebiscite.