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Cabinet approves NACTA billISLAMABAD: The Cabinet approved a draft of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) bill 2012, to effectively eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country.
This was stated by the Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira on Wednesday, following the cabinet meeting here.
He said Pakistan was fighting terrorism and all institutions are striving to curb this menace, but there is a need for better coordination among the institutions fighting terrorism.
According to sources, the Cabinet also approved the Electoral Reforms Bill 2012. The Bill has increased the limit for election campaign expenditures from Rs1.5 million to Rs 5 million for a National Assembly candidate and from Rs 1 million to Rs 3 million for a candidate of the Provincial Assembly.
The Prime Minister, he said, expressed his grief over the loss of precious lives in the explosions in Rawalpindi and Dera Ismail Khan. "May Allah rest the departed souls in peace and grant courage to the bereaved families to bear this loss," the Prime Minister prayed.
Kaira said that the Prime Minister also prayed for early recovery of those who were injured. In this regard, the Prime Minister said that he has already ordered inquiry on these sad incidents and assured that the culprits would he brought to justice.
He prayed that with the help and prayers of people of Pakistan we would be able to defeat the terrorists. In this regard, the Prime Minister also appreciated the role of general public, religious leaders and the media for maintenance of peace and harmony during Moharram.
He expressed the hope that the kind of cooperation that took place on this occasion amongst the law enforcing agencies, media and the public would continue in future as well and would contribute towards eliminating such terrorists' activities.
The Prime Minister also deliberated upon important issue of the D-8 summit recently held in Islamabad.
In this summit, he said, D-8 countries agreed that peace and stability in Afghanistan was crucial for development of the region. The D-8 summit was very successful and holding of such a mega event after 8 years is a clear reflection of member states' cordial relations and confidence in the democratic government of Pakistan.
He said that important ideas like establishment of development and trade banks, encouraging better trade and currency swap amongD-8 member states were floated by President Asif Ali Zardari and were well received by all member states.
During this conference, the President emphasized upon increased interaction between parliament, media and civil society ofD-8 member states. Operationalization of Preferential Trade Agreement was also an important point emphasized in the Summit. Economic reforms process undertaken by Pakistan, despite difficulties, was greatly appreciated by the leaders of D-8countries, he added. (APP)
Courtesy www.geo.tv