ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Tuesday decided to challenge the decision of the Lahore High Court (LHC) in the Supreme Court regarding the removal of Shahbaz Sharif’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL). The cabinet also approved a new civil aviation policy to revive tourism in the country.

“We have decided to challenge the decision of the LHC in the Supreme Court,” said Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry in a post-cabinet meeting press conference at Prime Minister Office (PMO). “We believe that once Shahbaz Sharif goes abroad, he will not come back to face corruption cases being investigated against him,” he added.

Responding to a question as to why his government needed to challenge the LHC decision when the matter was between Mr Sharif, also the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), he said: “As names on the ECL are placed by the cabinet, we have to look into the matter whether we are a party to it or not.”

Cabinet approves new aviation policy to boost tourism

The cabinet also approved a new aviation policy for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). He said, “Under the new policy the CAA will provide a relief of Rs4 billion to its clients by reducing taxes and various charges.”

Under the new policy, chopper service will be allowed to and from prominent tourism resorts. “Taxes and related levies have been reduced to zero for aviation services using a maximum of 40-seater airplane, which includes helicopters, for the purpose of ferrying people to tourism resorts and other areas of tourist interest,” he said.

The minister said the prime minister’s recent announcement of ambitious tourism plans for the country included the policy to amend the visa regime which has been introduced. “Visitors from five countries — UK, UAE, Turkey, China and Malaysia — are getting e-visa services. Also, under the new visa policy, visa-on-arrival will be provided to Indian-origin British and American citizens holding US or UK passports.”

The information minister also noted that the interior ministry had earlier in the day issued a notification that ended its No-Objection Certificates (NOC) regime. “Now, foreign tourists can visit any place in Pakistan, including cantonment areas, without any NOC.”

Included in the new aviation policy is the maximum-allowed lifespan of planes for commercial purposes that has been increased from 12 years to 18 and for cargo planes, the maximum-allowed lifespan has been extended to 30 years, the minister announced.

He said the previous government’s “open sky policy” was being abolished as he claimed it caused much damage to Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) after important air routes were auctioned off to other airlines. Under the new policy the CAA will, also, not charge any taxes on meal costs of flight kitchens.

Mr Chaudhry said the new aviation policy included opportunities for women wanting to become commercial pilots but could not afford to do so. “A special initiative for women and girls who want to become pilots has also been introduced. Thus, the CAA will cover Rs0.4 million of the fees if a girl wants to train to become a pilot.”

Sikh Gurdwara committee

The meeting also approved the re-constitution of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC). Following people have been appointed as members of the committee, whose main task will be to facilitate the scheduled opening of the Kartarpur corridor between Pakistan and India in November this year — Bishan Singh, Kuljit Singh, Maninder Singh, Gopal Singh Chawla, Mahinder Pall Singh, Sahib Singh, Santok Singh, Shamsher Singh, Taru Singh and Bahagat Singh.

In a separate decision the cabinet also approved the re-constitution of the Board of Karachi Infrastructure Development Company (KIDCL).

The cabinet also approve the nomination of the following members on the board of administrators of the Export Development Fund (EDF) for a period of one year: Mohammad Ali Tabba, Safdar Hussain Mehkri, Zahid Saeed, Adviser to PM on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, Ijaz A. Khokhar, Jawad Bilwani, Almas Hyder and Mian Shaiq Javed.

The cabinet also approved an extension of the agreement of the Lahore-Delhi Bus Service (LDBS) for a further period of five years that is until 2024.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2019