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ISLAMABAD, June 11: The National Assembly was told on Saturday that the government would take a final decision to start proposed Karachi-Mumbai ferry service once an appropriate stage was reached in the bilateral relations with India. In response to a question by MNA Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur, the ministry of ports and shipping informed the House that M/s Land Ocean Trading had approached the ministry for permission to operate high speed Monohull Cards between Karachi and Mumbai. The ministry referred the case to the foreign ministry as proposed amendments in the shipping protocol between Pakistan and India were held up there due to diplomatic exigencies.
The House was further told that the ministry had granted permission in principal to M/S Land Ocean Trading to operate Hydrofoil/ Hovercraft services on Karachi-Gawadar-Chahbahar-Bander Abbas; Karachi-Gawadar-Muscat-Dubai and Karachi-Ormara-Pasni-Gawadar routes.
DHA LAHORE: In response to a question by MNA Fareed Ahmad Paracha, the House was informed that Defence Housing Authority (DHA) has purchased 30,000 kanals of land for its phases nine and ten in Lahore while phases 11 and 12 have not been planned so far.
The defence ministry told the House that phases nine and ten would be bounded by Bedian road in the North East, Rohi Nullah in the West and Hudiara Drain in the South and South East.
FRAUD IN PENSION FUNDS: Replying to a question by MNA Hanif Abbassi, the communication ministry unformed the House that three cases of pension fraud amounting to Rs19 million had been detected from January 2003 till May 2005. Of these Rs19 million, the government had recovered Rs2.9 million while the National Accountably Bureau (NAB) was conducting further investigation in remaining cases.
