The fire, which broke out early morning, started in the ground floor of the 19 floor building, from where Samaa operates. Although preliminary reports suggest it was caused by a faulty electrical vent in the building, the police are now undergoing investigation to identify the real cause, which has resulted in extensive damage to Samaa technical equipment and office decor.

Upon the fire break out, the Fire departments responded from the city, assisted by the Karachi Police and the security staff. The Samaa staff was evacuated after the fire alarm was pulled. The staff breathed a collective sigh of relief that no was injured as a fire gutted the floor of the Techno City Corporate Tower and caused extensive smoke damage to all the floors.

“Samaa TV is grateful beyond words,” said Chief Executive Officer Amir Jahangir in the immediate aftermath. “We are fore mostly grateful that all of our staff members are safe and I especially want to commend the emergency personnel whose wonderful work ensured their safety.”

Jahangir expressed great appreciation for the support from industrial colleagues, business partners and Samaa’s loyal viewers. “Our website has been stormed with queries and wishes from our viewers, which only endorses our commitment to continue our operations so that we may cater the information need for our communities.”

Presumed destroyed were office machinery, cameras, and computers, along with official record. Firefighters have not publicly speculated about a possible cause yet. A fire service spokesperson said the cause of the blaze was being investigated.

While saving the lives of others, one firefighter suffered second-degree burns while fighting the fire. He has been taken to a local hospital for treatment and is expected to be discharged soon.

Comprehensive studies are also underway concerning the launch of an IRIB Urdu television network — thanks to the distinguished history of broadcasting in that language on Sahar Universal Network. Urdu-speaking Muslims would be able to enjoy interview shows and documentaries on the themes of culture, Iranology, nature, scientific advancements and social life.

“The launch of IRIB Spanish TV is of major importance given the large Spanish-speaking populations in the world. Feasibility studies have already been carried out and staff is currently receiving training in every aspect of the job,” IRIB Deputy Director Ali Darabi said.

“We have no doubt that the Spanish-language channel will find its audience, and will be in demand similar to our English and Arab projects,” he added.

The channel will be broadcast from the IRIB studios in Tehran; its distribution will soon be secured on satellites beaming to Hispanic communities. It will also be streamed online as part of a multiplatform proposition.

IRIB Spanish TV will be the third specialized channel to be launched by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, following the appearance of the Arabic language Al-Alam television network and ’round-the-clock English language Press TV.

He requested the committee to do away with all the changes made in the PEMRA law on November 3,2007 and restore it on November 2,2007 position.

However,the Chairperson of the committee Beelam Hasnain with the consent of the members decided to refer the proposed amendments done on Tuesday to the Prime Minister. The final decision to abolish all the amendments made in PEMRA law on November 3,2007 or retain some amendment which are considered to be in national interest would be made then.

Earlier, the committee took the bill clause by clause and recommended changes in some of the clauses while dropping the clause which stated that the licensee would not broadcast anything which was known to be false, baseless or mala fide.

Speaking on the occasion Secretary Information Mansoor Suhail said that the government was fully committed to freedom of expression and did not want to take any step which could be interpreted as arm-twisting of the media. He further told the committee that Council of Complaints was being reconstituted as the old council had expired after completion of its tenure.

Bushra Rehman, MNA said that the national interest should be kept supreme and there should be some limitations of freedom of expression. She said that India has banned Pakistani TV channels but, here in Pakistan Indian channels are shown without any restriction.
Chairman PEMRA Mushtaq Malik said that it was the responsibility of all TV channels not to air anything against Two-Nation Theory and interest of Pakistan.

Chairperson of the committee Beelam Hasnain said that the PEMRA should perform its duties keeping in mind national interests. Later the committee approved an amendment in Press,Newspapers,News Agencies and Books Registration Ordinance 2008.

The meeting was attended by MNAs Prince Mohiuddin,Farzana Raja,Bushra Rehman,Pir Syed Fazal Ali Shah Jeelani.

Senior officials of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting also attended the meeting.

The sources revealed the meeting held due to the immense pressure of cable operators on the management of PEMRA. Cable Operators Association of Pakistan (COAP) alleged Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has invited “illegal” bidding of cable operators in various cities for issuing more licenses in the country.

The cable operators all over the country had deposit million rupees to the PEMRA. There is no room for issuing more licenses in the present situation. They demanded the PEMRA should suspend bidding.

Likewise, the PEMRA has invited the bidding of FM radio licenses countrywide. The owners of the FM radios have also demanded the PEMRA to postpone the bidding of phase 8 issuing licenses because we have already facing hard time. They requested the high up of the authority in this regard.

When the Chairman PEMRA was contacted, he said that the bidding of cable TV licenses would be announced later with the consultation of cable operators.

PTV is the only source of information and entertainment for the residents of villages and small towns of NWFP because of comparatively lesser access to cable system. The outage of its transmission first made those humble people worried about the country’s political situation but consistency of the problem made them realize it might be due to the loadshedding.

“I first thought that the Government has once again been overthrown, as it happened on October 12, 1999”, said Muhammad Wakeel, an aged man from village Jalala, district Mardan, who drew attention of this correspondent to the problem. “After a son of mine from Islamabad informed me that everything was apparently normal, I supposed the problem may be due to power outage”, he continued. It has been happening for a couple of weeks or so, he said.

The suspension of transmission takes place when loadshedding interrupts power supply to the main booster in Cherat, district Nowshehra, which covers NWFP and adjacent districts of Punjab province, a source in PTV Peshawar Station confided to TheNation. He informed that as per instruction from PTV Headquarters, Islamabad, since last month, the standby generators installed to the booster are not supplied with fuel due to which the regular transmission in the areas covered by the said booster is suspended every time there is a power outage. He further said that the boosters, which acquire signals from the Cherat booster, are also affected by the problem.
 
He, however, added that only the transmission of PTV Home and ATV is interrupted, as PTV News is transmitted from Islamabad.

When contacted, Managing Director PTV Arshad Khan was initially surprised to hear about the abrupt suspension of PTV transmission in the entire region. Later, he confirmed that they had tightened the respective budget allocations due to complaints of fuel theft. “But we haven’t tightened it to affect the transmission. Rather, we will surely come up with the genuine requirement of fuel”, Khan said. He said there were complaints that half the fuel supplied for the purpose was stolen.

He further said that he would thoroughly look into the matter and would inquire as to who is responsible for the mismanagement.

“This project is nothing new. It’s the old wine in new bottle,” Z.R Jafri, a veteran writer said.

“The aim of this media invasion is to settle down in the minds of our children that the religious-minded people are behind terrorism, therefore they must stay away from religion.”

The US Aid Agency for International Developments (USAID) has recently advertised the plan in local newspapers seeking proposals from Pakistani and US firms involved in the making of children programs for developing television and multimedia programming for Pakistani children.

A sum of Rs 1.5 billion (20 million dollars) has been allocated to the four-year program.

The purpose of the program, according to Sohail Hummayun, one of the USAID officials involved in this project, is to develop the language, problem-solving and critical thinking abilities among Pakistani children.

Many are suspicious of the project.

“There is no free lunch in America,” says Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, a former parliamentarian and central leader of Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI), which represents the powerful Dubendi school of thought in Pakistan.

“It doesn’t invest anything anywhere without any interest. Therefore, whatever America is investing here, is not at all without any interest.”

The US embassy spokesman in Islamabad Richard Snelsire avoided commenting on the proposed plans.

“The contract has not been awarded yet so we are legally restricted in what we can say,” he told the sources.

He denied accusations that it is a politically-motivated program to win the hearts and minds of Pakistani children.

“No it’s a development program.”

Americanizing

Some believe that though the three main objectives of the project seem to be clear and harmless, their far-reaching effects would be dangerous.

“Language is the most important tool of the social and mental development of a child. A child starts thinking and speaking through this tool,” notes Shahnawaz Farooqi, a renowned thinker and writer.

“If the language model is American, then automatically the way of thinking will also be American.”

Farooqi, who writes about social and political issues, is also critical of the problem-solving objective of the American program.

“Apparently, there is no harm in teaching the children problem-solving. This is a very good thing. But here are two lists of the priorities in life. One list is Islamic, and the second list is western. Do you think, America will teach our children about Islamic list of priorities in life?”

Although he believes in the importance of critical-thinking, Farooqi is still suspicious about its inclusion in the TV programming.

“Keeping the behavior of the West against Islam in view, the development of critical thinking abilities among Muslim children means to develop the ability to see the Islamic belief and tenets with a critical eye.”

Jafri shares the same concern.

“They are trying to establish that every bearded person, who offers prayers five times a day, actually supports this terrorism, which is totally wrong.”

Ahmad, the JUI leader, believes the basic purpose of the project is to counter growing anti-US sentiments.

“Youths and children have been developing anti-US sentiments because of its unjust and uncalled for policies all over the world, especially in Muslim countries,” he told our sources.

“I believe this is an effort to counter this phenomenon.”

But he believes the project will not work out.

“Instead of investing such huge amounts to brainwash Muslim children, America should reconsider its policies to win the hearts and minds of our children.

“Such kind of cosmetic efforts have neither worked in the past, nor will they do in the future.”

The program, a joint collaboration between the Vinnova-Stanford Research Center of Innovation Journalism (INJO) at Stanford University and SAMAA TV beat out more than 500 other competitors from various industries in a nationwide consumer survey and an expert panel analysis. SAMAA will be receiving the award by Prime Minister Mr. Yousaf Raza Gilani in an event scheduled in February.

The award is being given to SAMAA for launching Pakistan’s first dedicated program on innovation and for establishing the genre as an important journalistic beat in Pakistan. The Program has been recognized as the key source through which the journalistic coverage of innovation processes and ecosystems in Pakistan has been integrated into the national socio-economic development plan. The program has also been applauded for playing a leading role in bringing local issues of innovative development to the forefront of public awareness in Pakistan.

Speaking to Amir Jahangir, Chief Executive Officer of SAMAA TV, he said “The program success is based on hard work and a great network of INJO fellows across the world, who through their expertise has been advising on the program content, sharing research, commenting on innovation topics and providing solutions through their input and views. Due to this collaboration, the content of our program has been acknowledged as being credible, containing relevant issues and making efforts in bringing together the relevant stakeholders of each industry to find innovative measures to cater the society needs”.

Mr. Jahangir further said that “The global development has made our world smaller and our communication more effective. We want to bring innovation to the homes of every Pakistani citizen, so that their awareness and ability to be innovative is nurtured. Our future lies in the hands of innovation and for that we need to prepare a workforce which not only knows how to be innovative but also how to link it to the economic development”.

Mr. David Nordfors, Executive Director of the VINNOVA-Stanford Research Center of Innovation Journalism said that “this award is not alone a milestone for SAMAA TV but also for the Innovation Journalism initiative at Stanford, as through this joint collaboration, SAMAA has proven the viability of innovation journalism as a genre in Pakistan”. He said that by being the first, SAMAA TV is leading the way for other media channels both in Pakistan as well as across the world.

Mr. Nordfors specially acknowledged Amir Jahangir, CEO SAMAA TV for the strong leadership and commitment in bringing innovation to the Pakistani media. Mr. Nordfors said that Mr. Jahangir’s strong belief in linking innovation to economic development would play a crucial role in creating a new echo system in the Pakistan economy.

The program series is dedicated to identifying innovation in all aspects of Pakistani life, and has covered issues ranging from alternative energy to mobile banking.

Mr. Arif Allauddin, CEO Alternative Energy Development Board also appreciated SAMAA TVs program stating that “ it was the first of its kind show which showcased how different countries are addressing their energy needs using alternative energy -Thus, giving the Government of Pakistan the opportunity to learn and benefit from their experiences and serve as guidelines for us”. He said that the program has been engaging InJo fellows across the world and coming up with global solutions to local issues, which are required more now than ever, as Pakistan continues to face immense challenges in providing quality education, primary healthcare, energy supply and employment opportunities for youth.

The INJO program at Stanford University focus on building the capacity of media professionals to report on innovation, develop interaction between journalism and innovation, including how innovation is changing the profession and business of journalism, how to cover innovation in the news, and how journalism links innovation with society. Four Pakistani journalists come to Stanford each year as InJo fellows, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The objective of the fellowship is to train international journalists to cover the innovation economy and network with US media outlets. Fellows participate in workshops and conferences at Stanford and work with newsrooms across the nation covering issues relating to innovation.

They said PTV Managing Director Arshad Khan talked to the sub-committee of the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting at the PTV Headquarters regarding an increase. “During the sub-committee’s last meeting held at the PTV Headquarters, company MD Arshad Khan said the management was successfully recovering outstanding dues from advertising companies and government departments,” the sources added. They said the PTV MD requested the sub-committee that PTV should be assisted through an increase in the license fee as it still faced a financial crunch. “Khan further told the committee that the Finance Ministry had already given a go-ahead to PTV in this regard,” the sources said. It is pertinent to mention here that the government had included a TV license fee of Rs 25 in electricity bills and the decision had been taken to steer PTV out of its financial crisis.

According to reports, PTV collects revenue worth approximately Rs 3.5 billion through this tax. During Dr Shahid Masood’s tenure as MD in 2008, the standing committee had criticised the system of collecting TV license fee through monthly electricity bills and urged the government to replace it. PTV officials informed the House that the channel was earning Rs 3 billion annually from the licence fee through electricity bills. “The fee is collected without assessing whether or not a consumer owns a TV set,” PTV officials said. Committee members had criticised the government for collecting the licence fee from consumers in rural areas where PTV’s transmission does not reach.

The committee had asked the government to collect the fee from only those consumers who are availing the service. Another issue regarding the TV licence fee between PTV and WAPDA is that the channel does not want to give a share of 20 percent as collection charges to WAPDA from the Rs 25 licence fee. Senator Tariq Azim told Daily Times that the PTV management had asked the sub-committee to approve an increase of Rs 10 in the licence fee. “Our committee has not yet decided whether to propose an increase in the fee or not,” he added. irfan bukhari /

While addressing the press conference on Thursday, the office bearers of COAP said that the IPL has insulted the whole nation by ignoring Pakistani players in the tournament. “We can’t bear such attitude of the IPL.”

They said that all the cable operators are with Pakistani players and have decided not to air IPL matches throughout the country. They also made it clear that all the foreign sports channels that will air these matches will also be closed

HUM Network introduced the new radio channel at a press conference at Beach Luxury Hotel, Karachi. Shanaz Ramzi, GM public relations and publications, sharing the details with the press said the FM channel will be broadcasted from five stations — Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Multan and Peshawar, launched in collaboration with Shalimar Recording and Broadcasting Network; all technical facilities are provided by them, while the software is produced by HUM Network.

Present on the occasion were, the station’s two RJs, Osama Tahir and Hiba Siddiqui, who conducted a mock session of interviews, with Sohail Hashmi, who is also the host of the morning show on the radio. Next in line was Naeem Bukhari, who talked about his show ‘Hotline with Naeem Bokhari’, where people can call in to register their complaints and he and his team would do everything to get their issues sorted out. Also present on the occasion were, Chisti Mujahid and Iftikhar Ahmed, who entertained the audience with their lively banter, which included anecdotes from the past.

Shanaz Ramzi then took over the proceedings again and read out a congratulatory letter from the Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gillani, who praised the HUM Network on crossing yet another milestone. Sultana Siddiqui in her speech, also thanked the government and Shalimar Recording Company for their support. She also said, the aim of the station is, to spread positive feelings, instead of harping on negativity, and to promote Pakistan in a positive manner. She concluded by thanking the entire HUM Network team for their support.