Federal cabinet approves transfer of KP chief minister's office powers to governor

The federal cabinet on Wednesday approved transferring the day-to-day working of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister's Office to the province's governor, citing the state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the need to keep administrative affairs running.

The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif. Under the arrangement, the governor will send the federal government a monthly review report on how the delegated powers are used, according to a press release from the Prime Minister's Office Media Wing.

The statement said the cabinet welcomed the decision and expressed the hope that the KP Advisory Council, working under the governor, would make "all out efforts" to ensure public welfare and prosperity and to restore law and order in the province.

On the recommendation of the Ministry of Finance, the cabinet approved designs for a new series of currency notes. It was told that designs had been sought from artists and designers across the country after consultations with stakeholders by a cabinet committee set up by the prime minister. The new notes will carry stronger security features and use advanced materials meant to curb counterfeiting and to lengthen the life of the currency.

TechJuice reported that the cabinet was briefed that the designs carry motifs reflecting the country's culture, history and development, and that low-denomination coins outlast low-value notes, cutting the cost of repeated replacement and improving the distribution of currency in the market.

The cabinet approved a Rs10 coin to replace the existing Rs10 banknote.

It also ratified the defence cooperation agreement between Pakistan and Kuwait, first signed on June 11, 2023, and ratified by the Kuwaiti government on July 19.

The meeting endorsed the decisions of the Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises taken at its meeting on October 26. It ratified the decisions of the Cabinet Committee on Legislative Cases at its meetings on January 22, February 26, August 5, 18 and 27, and September 11 and 22.