All eight changes to the Civil Service Act recommended by the House when it rejected the last draft of the bill were adopted in amended legislation that is currently being looked at by the House Manpower Committee, said Planning Minister Ashraf Al Araby. These include amending the clauses on punitive salary deductions that will be set by infraction and which now give the bureaucrat the right to appeal any such decision. The changes also set a maximum 42 hours of work per week and a minimum civil service wage, in addition to financially compensating workers for lost vacation time. The amendments also establish a single salary rate, compared to the two under the old system, making it triple the current base salary. On a separate note, Al Araby stated that the Media and Journalism Act help enact administrative and financial reform at state-owned media. Cabinet is due to wrap up its discussion of the act in the coming weeks ahead of sending it to the House for review. (Read in Arabic)