Ban on Youtube lifted
ISLAMABAD: The cabinet on Wednesday strongly condemned the blasphemous caricatures on a specific website and directed the Ministry of Information Technology to ensure that such blasphemous material is not allowed to appear on the Internet in Pakistan.
The federal cabinet met at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani. According to sources, there was a heated debate in the cabinet regarding the ban on Facebook and Youtube and it discussed in detail pros and cons of taking any decision to lift any ban.
The sources said after the debate, it was decided to lift the ban on Youtube while to continue with ban on all of its links carrying the blasphemous caricatures. While on the Facebook, the cabinet decided that the ban on the web page would continue till the orders of the Lahore High Court.
At the start of the cabinet meeting, the prime minister welcomed Minister for Defence Production Abdul Qayyum Jatoi, who had earlier tendered his resignation after the defeat of PPP candidate in the recent bye-elections.
The prime minister informed the cabinet that he had persuaded Jatoi to reconsider his resignation. The cabinet expressed satisfaction over the implementation status of decisions taken by it during 58 meetings held since March 31, 2008, after the present government came into power on March 25, 2008.
The prime minister directed that the implementation onpending decisions be expedited by the ministries concerned. The cabinet rectified the Articles of Agreement for the Establishment of Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) Re-Insurance Company by its three-member countries, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey.
The cabinet approved, in principle, the draft of Pakistan Savings Bill 2010 and constituted a cabinet committee, comprising Adviser on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Minister for Privatisation Waqar Ahmed and Minister for Law & Justice Babar Awan, for further deliberation and improvement of some of the clauses.
The cabinet agreed in principle for grant of Charter of University Status to Sindh Madressah-tul-Islam, Karachi, subject to scrutiny by the Implementation Commission on the 18th Amendment and subsequent re-submission to the Cabinet for final approval.
The cabinet accorded approval to up-gradation of the National Institute of Science and Technical Education (NISTE), Islamabad, into a degree awarding institution. The approved settlement rates (ASR) and related matters proposed by the Ministry of Information Technology (IT) was referred to the next ECC meeting for approval.
The cabinet approved to initiate negotiation on: Agreement on Promotion and Protection of Investment with Sudan, Pakistan-Algeria Bilateral Investment Treaty; Agreement on Promotion and Protection of Investment with Austria. The cabinet also accorded ex-post facto approval for the MoU signing between the Board of Investment (BOI) Pakistan and Investment Support and Promotion Agency Turkey (ISPAT).
Source: The News
Date:5/27/2010
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