ISLAMABAD - Giving nod to the purchase of natural gas from Iran to meet domestic needs, Federal Cabinet here on Wednesday accorded approval of the construction of Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline. The Federal Cabinet has decided to make gas import agreement with Iran and utilize the imported gas for power generation in place of furnace oil which would prove about 40 per cent economical, said Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira while briefing the media about Cabinet decisions. He said as the price of Iranian gas would be comparatively higher, it would mainly be used for power generation by those plants that are currently run on furnace oil. The meeting observed that since India, the third country involved in the proposed gas pipeline had withdrawn, Pakistan would execute the project to import one billion cubic feet of gas, the Minister said. He said that the Federal Cabinet had also decided to advance clocks by one hour from 15th of this month. It was decided to advance clocks by an hour from 15th of April to make the maximum use of day light and save the electricity as the similar decision last year had helped to save 250 MW of electricity daily, he noted. The Minister said that the Cabinet had decided to impose 25% regulatory duty on molasses to help meet needs of the local Ethanol producing industry. The Minister said that the Cabinet had called for aggressive planning for exploration of natural resources so that the countrys dependence on import of oil and gas could be reduced. The Federal Cabinet, against the hopes of approval of Education Policy, postponed the matter till the next Cabinet meeting. On it, Information Minister, Qamar Zaman Kaira said the Cabinet after a thorough discussion on the draft Education Policy had postponed its approval and decided that the draft policy document should be sent to all the four Chief Ministers to get their feedback. It should be taken up in the next meeting during which provincial chiefs would also be invited, he added. Presently the country is spending around 2 per cent of its GDP on education which as per the policy would be increased to over 4 per cent in the coming few years, he said, adding that the government was giving priority to health and education and wanted to spend 10 per cent of the GDP on those important areas to ensure quality education and better health care to the people. Highlighting the other decisions, the Minister said the Cabinet also approved the proposal to reform the curricula of the religious seminaries and bring them into the mainstream of the educational set-up. He made it clear that the government did not want to control the Madaris rather it only wanted to introduce worldly subjects in their curricula along with Islamic ones. Answering a question, he said Pakistan had one of the best armies of the world and added all over the world police force was not equipped to fight terrorism. That is why the government has decided to constitute a special squad to counter terrorism and Counter Terrorism Authority would be exclusively tasked to counter this menace, he added. Qamar Zaman Kaira said Cabinet formed a committee comprising Ministers for Industries, Ports and Shipping and Adviser Finance which would decide incentives for Export Processing Zone in Gwadar. He said Gwadar Port is now operational due to which a lot of employment opportunities are created. He said the other decision was that the Ministry of Finance would give briefing to the Cabinet every month on countrys economic situation. The Cabinet has also approved the establishment of National Law and Social Sciences University in Islamabad with campuses in provincial capitals to ensure higher education in this important discipline locally, the Minister said and added, Land for the university in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi has been acquired and it will be arranged in the other provincial capitals soon. The Minister said that the Cabinet had directed the Ministry of Finance to give briefing to it about the financial position every month so that the nation is kept informed of the situation. He said that the Cabinet had also taken important decision for resolving electricity crisis in Karachi and rid the city of load-shedding. For this purpose the Cabinet has decided to accept liability of thirty-one billion loans, out of a total of over forty billion loans owed by KESC, the Minister revealed to the media. He further informed that the loan was due to the difference between purchase and selling rates of power by the Corporation. He said the new management of KESC had pledged an investment of three hundred and sixty million dollars in power generation and improvement of the system in Karachi. The loan would be adjusted in accordance with this investment. A committee comprising Advisor on Finance, Minister for Water and Power, Advisor on Petroleum and Minister for Overseas Pakistanis has been constituted to look after the KESC performance, he said. The Minister said that the Cabinet had also decided to review Afghan Transit Trade with a view to meeting the requirements of Afghanistan and at the same time warding off any loss to Pakistan. The Information Minister said it was also decided in todays (Wednesday) meeting that legislation would be made through bills and parliament instead of ordinances. The Information Minister said that the country would have to import sugar in view of less than targeted production of the sugarcane. Responding to a question, Kaira said that the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security would be presented in the National Assembly tomorrow (Thursday) and before the Senate on 17th of this month. These would be implemented by the government after finalization by the parliament, he added. To another question, the Minister said that drone attacks were tantamount to attack on Pakistans sovereignty and those were hindering to achieve the objectives of fight against terrorism. To another question, he said that gas pipeline issue was between Iran and Pakistan and no other country had to interfere in this project and added that Pakistan was a sovereign country and used to make its decisions independently. He said the government was spending huge amount for the benefit of the very poor people through Benazir Income Support Programme and Food Stamp Programme of Punjab Government. The Minister said that an amount of Rs. 34 billion was being spent under Benazir Income Support Programme to provide financial assistance to 3.5 million families, adding that it would be expanded to seven million households during next year. Responding to another question about Shariat Courts in Swat, he said the Constitution of the country did not allow any anti-Islamic law and Nizam-e-Adal Regulations in Swat provided speedy justice as per law.