Senate adopts Protection of Pakistan Bill 2014

ISLAMABAD: The upper house on Monday approved the Protection of Pakistan Bill 2014.

Federal Minister Zahid Hamid presented the bill for approval during the Senate session presided over by its Deputy Chairman Sabir Baloch.

On the occasion, Senator Talha Mahmood of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl called upon the government to hold out the assurance that the Protection of Pakistan Bill will be implemented on merit. It should also ensure that the bill will not be used against Madaris, he added.

He said it will have to be seen that no incident like Lahore Model Town gets repeated in future given the additional powers being extended to the security forces.

Fatima Jinnah sent notice to pay water bill!

KARACHI: The Karachi Water and Sewerage Board has sent a bill on account of provision of water and services charges for sewerage to the sister of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and a great leader of Pakistan Movement, the late Fatima Jinnah, 47 years after her death.

The bill amounts to Rs263,774 and she has been directed to pay the amount within 10 days of receipt of the notice, or the connection of water and sewerage can be disconnected. According to the Land Revenue Act, the property could be confiscated, auctioned and a fine can be imposed. Moreover, she can also be arrested. The notice has been sent by the KW&SB according to which the last date for payment of the amount was May 28.

The consumer number of Fatima Jinnah is A0600390000, and her address has been written as RA 241, Cantt.It merits mentioning here that the Flag Staff House located in the Karachi Cantt was the property of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

It is being used as a museum, where the items of personal use of the Quaid and Fatima Jinnah are kept.In the notice sent to Fatima Jinnah, it has been said that the excuse of non-receipt of the bill will not be accepted. A copy of the bill can be received from the nearby consumer centre of the organisation. It has also been said in the notice that if the connection is disconnected, the fees for restoring the connection will also be applicable. Talking to The News, commissioner of Karachi said that he had directed the managing director of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board to take back the notice sent in the name of Fatima Jinnah. He hoped that he would soon receive in writing the information for annulling the notice.

National Assembly approves Finance Bill 2014-15

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Saturday approved the Finance Bill for fiscal year 2014-15 with total outlay of Rs 4.3 trillion, accepting some amendments moved by the government and rejecting all ones from the opposition benches.

Following nine-day discussion, the 149-page Finance Bill was moved by Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar that was passed by the House with majority in clause by clause reading. The passage of the Finance Bill has successfully brought to an end the budgetary process started on June 3 with the budget speech of the finance minister at the National Assembly.

The bill now will go to the President for assent who will sign it into law making it will be applicable from July 1 2014. The House echoed with desk thumping as the House passed the budget in presence of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif who also witnessed the budget s passage.

The Senate had made 133 recommendations out of those the government accepted 57 and were incorporated in the federal budget full or partially. Once signed into law, the bill will increase monthly stipend from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 billion for those receiving income support and number of families for the Benazir Income Support programme will be increased from 4.1 million to 5.3 million.

The crop insurance will be increased to 25 acres and prices of fertilizers will be reduced by Rs 300 per bag. The bill will also help reduce GADC to Rs 100 on power zero on cement Rs 150 on general industry Rs 200 on captive power and zero on commercial sector.

The government will also impose uniformed income tax of 4 percent on first class air travel and reduce sales tax on solvent extractors from 17 to 16 percent. The government will withdraw the exemptions of Rs 103 billion under its endeavor for phased elimination of SROs aimed at favoring influential ones.

The Finance Bill also provides a special package of Rs 36 billion for all provinces out of that Balochsitan will get Rs 14 billion, Sindh Rs 8 billion, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Rs 4 billion, FATA Rs 4 billion, AJK Rs 3 billion and Gilgit Baltistan Rs 2 billion.

As part of the budgetary approval, the House has also approved demands for grants worth Rs 2.6 trillion besides charged expenditures. Following the passage of the budget, the finance minister felicitated the National Assembly Senate and the whole nation on approval of the budget saying the government was committed to take the country to its bright future as per vision of founder of the nation Quid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

He informed National Assembly that the country s foreign currency reserves had reached to US 14.2 billion. He said that due to its prudent policies the government had managed to cross 14 billion mark and in future it would continue taking steps for further improving foreign currency reserves.

US lawmakers pass bill to curb NSA

WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives approved late Thursday a bill that would restrict the electronic surveillance powers of the National Security Agency (NSA).The margin was wide, 293 to 123, for the bill attached to the defense budget for 2015, which begins October 1.For now, however, the bill will have no effect on the NSA as it has not been debated by the Senate.

But the message from the lower house is clear.

It wants to embrace a court ruling and bar the National Security Agency from using personal electronic information from US citizens without a prior court order.

As it currently stands, under the so-called Prism program, the NSA focuses on foreign targets on the Internet via Facebook, Gmail and other services.

But the NSA has acknowledged it used information taken from the servers of such companies, without approval from a judge.

The Constitution and US laws require that the government obtain a court order before searching among data of US citizens.

Thursday´s amendment would bar the NSA from carrying out any search without a court order, including information from Americans, even if their communications were picked up inadvertently. The bill would bar the NSA and the CIA from including secret "back doors" allowing the NSA to skirt coded gateways and gain access to users´ personal data. The NSA is accused of having done this for several years. A year after the revelations made by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, Congress is still debating how to reform US surveillance programs.

Crackdown on government electricity bill defaulters

ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali has ordered Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (IESCO) to disconnect supply to government institutions that have not cleared their dues.

The list of defaulters includes the Presidency, Parliament Lodges, PM Secretariat,Parliament House, Cantonment Board, Supreme Court, residence of the Chief Justice along with government offices of NADRA and CDA. Orders have also been issued to disconnect electricity supply to Frontier Works Organisation, Punjab Jail, Sindh and Balochistan House and Motorway Police.

During a news conference Abdi Sher Ali said the Sindh government had dues of Rs56 billion while the provincial governments of Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also had to clear their outstanding dues.

The state minister added that he had been given directives by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to collect dues and stop electricity theft within one month. According to Abid Sher Ali protests against load shedding were taking place in areas where electricity theft was common.

The minister also announced to issue the load shedding schedule soon.

Electricity Cut Off

Following the orders of Abid Sher Ali, IESCO cut off power supply to the Supreme Court, Parliament House and PM Secretariat. IESCO officials said supply had been cut due to non-payment of dues. However, on the directives of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, electricity supply to the Supreme Court was resumed.

Farooq Sattar terms Protection of Pakistan bill as black law

KARACHI: MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar has termed the Protection of Pakistan bill as black law and said that the law was passed in haste.

He said that the law was against the basic human rights as it allows for shooting on sight. The MQM leader said that the government presented the bill without holding consultation with the opposition.

He asked as to how many terrorists were arrested under the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance.

He said the government was trying to impose “democratic tyranny’. Sattar said that political parties were not being taken into confidence over the talks with the Taliban.

NA adopts Protection of Pakistan Amendment Bill 2014

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Monday passed Protection of Pakistan Amendment Bill 2014 amid strong protest from the opposition benches.

The bill was approved in the absence of members representing the opposition.

The Protection of Pakistan bill 2014 also contains provisions from the 2013 bill.

The bill states that special courts will be established for disposing of cases against terrorists while joint investigation teams (JITs) will undertake probe into the terror-related cases.

Under the new bill, a person declared convict by a court could be kept in any prison of the country.

The opposition members staged a strong protest against the bill, tearing up its copies and throwing them on the floor.

They also refused to propose amendments to the bill and walked out of the lower house in protest. Those legislators who staged the walkout also included members from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), which is one of the allies of the incumbent government.

Earlier, Shahida Akhtar of JUI-F presented the amendment bill for approval.

 

Woman pays $200 bill with coins, town says no more

ERIE: A Pennsylvania township is asking residents to keep the change.

Officials in Millcreek Township, along with its water and sewer authorities, have adopted a policy limiting how much change they'll accept from residents paying sewer bills and other fees.

David Sterrett, executive director of the authorities, tells the Erie Times-News that officials came up with the policy after a woman showed up last month with a shoebox full of nickels, dimes and quarters to pay a $200 sewer bill.

Sterrett says it took four employees an hour to count, sort and put the money into paper sleeves.

The new policy limits residents to using $10 in unrolled coins or $20 in rolled coins when paying bills.