Senate passes law on women’s property rights

The Senate on Wednesday passed the Enforcement of Women's Property Rights (Amendment) Bill 2021 -- presented by Senator Shibli Faraz.

Replying to a query in the upper house of parliament, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said PTV would be made a profitable entity soon.

“Efforts are being made to do away with PTV fees in electricity bills soon,” he added.

The minister said the government was taking steps to upgrade PTV.

“PTV Home and Sports would be in high definition soon.”

Fawad further claimed that the previous governments had made illegal recruitments in PTV and the state-run broadcaster needed to be overhauled.

Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani expressed his annoyance over the absence of a written answer raised by Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi as well as the minister concerned in the House.

He added that he would personally speak to Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid, who was supposed to reply to the query.

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“During the proceedings, the officers representing the ministries should be present.”

The chairman pointed out that there was no official was present in the House except an officer of the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR).

He warned Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan that secretaries of all departments should be present in the next proceedings of the House.

Responding to a call-attention notice about the difficulties faced by Pakistanis due to additional bookings and cancellation by airlines, Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar said that the airline industry across the world was suffering due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In May [this year], it was decided to reduce inbound flights but overbooking of flight by international airlines caused problems,” he added.

“The Civil Aviation Authority has issued show-cause notices to these companies and stranded passengers will be repatriated by special flights.”

The minister further said after consultation with the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the body handling the country’s combined response to the Covid-19 pandemic, flights were being increased by 50%.