ISLAMABAD: The Senate will take up the Access to Information Bill, 2013, and may pass it in the coming session.
The bill was passed by the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting early this month.
Committee Chairman Kamil Ali Agha will table the bill. “We will bring the bill to the House and hopefully it will be passed with majority,” said Agha.
The bill gives public access to information regarding transactions about acquisition and disposal of property, expenditures of all kinds, grants of licences, approvals, allotments and contracts awarded by a public body.
But information of some ministries and government departments, including financial institutions, will remain classified.
There is no blanket immunity to the Ministry of Defence and defence services which was used in the past to keep everything under wraps behind the façade of national security.
The exemption is limited to defence planning, deployment of forces, defence installations and matters that can be related to national security.
The 18th Amendment of 2010 to the Constitution has made the right to access to information a fundamental right.
Karzai set to visit China
Beijing: Afghan President Hamid Karzai will visit to China from tomorrow to September 28, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said yesterday. He is visiting China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Chinese News Agency Xinhua quoted the ministry’s spokesman Honglei as saying. He will meet leaders and top officials to discuss ways to enhance relations and cooperation in various fields. Karzai will also attend the opening ceremony of the Euro-Asia Economic Forum (EAEF) 2013.
Agencies
