APNS president and secretary general elected
KARACHI: Arif Nizami of Nawa-i-Waqt Group of Publications and Mohammad Aslam Kazi of Daily Kawish were re-elected as President and Secretary General of All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) by the Executive Committee elect for the second term.
The newly elected Executive Committee holding its first meeting in Karachi, also elected Syed Faseih Iqbal of Daily Balochistan Times, Quetta as Senior Vice President, Mumtaz A Tahir of Daily Aftab, Multan as Vice President, Mushtaq Ahmed Qureshi of Monthly Naey Ufaq as Joint Secretary and Waqar Yousuf Azeemi of Monthly Roohani Digest as Finance Secretary for the new term.
The General Council welcomed the announcement of Zia Shahid that his Editors Council has decided in principle to merge with the Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors for which a committee comprising Arif Nizami, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and Zia Shahid was formed by the AGM to work out the modalities.
Zia Shahid also informed the Council that he has unconditionally withdrawn the cases filed against the APNS in different courts.
The Council appreciated the successful efforts put forward by Arif Nizami, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and Zia Shahid in forging unity in the ranks of the industry.
The General Council strongly condemned the coercive actions of the government against the press and noted with grave concern continued ban on the government advertisements to Daily Nawa-i-Waqt, The Nation and other newspapers, which is contrary to the high claims of the government for a free press in the country.
The General Council through a resolution rejected the use of advertisements as lever to curb press freedom and stifle the fourth pillar of state in an effort to silent the dissenting voice in print.
The Council endorsed the Joint Action Committee of the APNS and the CPNE headed by Syed Faseih Iqbal and Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and unanimously resolved to take any action on the call of the committee.
Various members informed the General Council that the Chairman of ITNE, Justice Nawaz Gandapur was hurling threats to member publications in different cities of dire consequences and condemned such biased attitude of the chairman.
The council noted that the Supreme Court had already advised the chairman not to take any coercive action against the publishers of newspapers.
The General Council in a resolution called upon the Finance Ministry to reduce interest rates to maximum 5 percent on all loans to newspapers from the government-controlled banks and financial institutions so that the member publications may upgrade the print technology and improve their standards to face the challenges of the new era.
Those who addressed the General Council included Arif Nizami, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman Shami, Zia Shahid, Syed Faseih Iqbal, Jamil Athar, Mustafa Sadiq, Mumtaz A. Tahir, Iqbal Sidhu, Kazi Asad Abid, Mushtaq A. Qureshi, Dr Jabber Khattak, Khushnood Ali Khan, Waqar Yousuf Azeemi, Sardar Mehtab Khan and Muhammad Aslam Kazi.
Earlier, the Annual General Council chaired by Arif Nizami adopted the Annual Report of the Executive Committee for the preceding year after full length deliberations as well as the Annual Accounts of the Society.
The General Council attended by members from across the country also formed an Election Commission headed by Younus Riaz (Daily Beopar), Ghulam Akbar (Daily Al Akhbar), Naseer Hashmi (Daily Ummat) as members.
The Election Commission conducted the election to the Executive Committee for the year 2004-2005. Following were declared elected:
Karachi Daily Seats (Six Seats): Daily Awami Awaz, Daily Aghaz, Daily Business Recorder, Daily Jang, Daily Kainat, Daily Qaumi Akhbar.
Lahore Daily Seats (Six Seats): Daily Dawn, Daily Din, Daily Musawat, Daily Nawa-e-Waqt, Daily Pakistan, Daily Wifaq.
Rawalpindi/Islamabad Daily Seats (Two Seats): Daily Ausaf and Daily Sahafat.
Balochistan Daily Seats (Two Seats): Daily Awam and Daily Balochistan Times.
Frontier Daily (Two Seats): Daily Mashriq and Daily Wahdat.
Sindh Excluding Daily Karachi (Two Seats): Daily Kaleem, Sukkur and Daily Kawish, Hyderabad.
Punjab (Excluding Lahore/Rawalpindi)(Three Seats): Daily Aftab, Multan, Daily Business Report, Faisalabad, Daily Paigham, Faisalabad.
Periodicals Seats (Four Seats): Monthly Naey Ufaq, Karachi, Monthly Roohani Digest, Karachi, Monthly Kiran, Karachi, Monthly The Cricketer, Karachi.
News & News Comments (Punjab/Frontier) One Seat: Monthly Shahrag-e-Pakistan, Lahore.
News & News Comments (Sindh/Balochistan) One Seat: Monthly Mystery Magazine, Karachi.
News & News Comments (General) One Seat: Monthly Women Times, Lahore.
General Seats (Regional Dailies) Two Seats: Daily Millat Gujrati, Karachi, Daily Khabrain, Lahore.
General Seats (Regional Dailies) Two Seats: Daily Deyanat, Sukkur, Daily Ibrat, Hyderabad.
The Executive Committee also elected Ms Qudsia Khan, Daily Financial Post, Karachi, on woman publishers’ seat.
Source: Business Recorder
Date:4/1/2004
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