October 16, 2002	Wednesday	Sha’aban 9, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 15: An audio and video taping system has been installed in the national assembly hall for the first time to record proceedings of both national assembly and joint session, informed sources told Dawn.

It will also record statements of parliamentarians for future reference, they said, adding that a sophisticated security system was also being installed in the building in place of the old one.

“Different security systems are under consideration and final decision in this respect would be made by the parliamentarians,” the sources said.

They said some 55 additional chairs had been installed in the national assembly hall, increasing the total number of chairs to 444. “The hall has enough capacity to hold joint session of national assembly and senate,” they added.

“The additional chairs have been installed in a manner that the seating arrangements and beauty of hall remains unaffected. In this connection, all former speakers of the national assembly have been consulted and they suggested that existing seating arrangement should not be disturbed while adding more seats,” the sources said.

A new digital telephone exchange is also been installed in the hall at an estimated cost of Rs4 million, and the existing telephone exchange would be shifted to MNA Hostel.