ISLAMABAD: The security personnel deputed inside and outside the accountability court, where NAB references Nawaz Sharif, his children and Ishaq Dar are being heard, remain vigilant but only towards journalists as the media workers are stopped from covering by not being allowed them to enter the court while a coterie of ministers, advisers and political […]
KARACHI: Police and education were the top departments against whom most public complaints were registered and taken up for action by the Sindh Ombudsman’s office last year, shows the 2016 annual report recently released by the provincial ombudsman. The report says that a total of 7,424 complaints were lodged with the ombudsman’s office in 2016, […]
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information (RTI) Commission conducted inspection of public record in various departments of the University of Peshawar (UoP) to ensure citizens right to access public information here on Friday. A statement issued here said that at least 12 pending complaints against various departments of UoP, including Journalism and Mass Communication, […]
Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly, states that everyone has the right to freedom of movement. Similarly, Article 19 urges that the fundamental right of human being is to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media. As far as the constitution of Pakistan […]
PESHAWAR: The changes proposed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act, 2013 – aimed at removing its shortcomings – have been bouncing back and forth between the law department and the commission concerned for the past two years. In February last year, the changes proposed in the act were sent to the provincial law […]
ISLAMABAD – On the directives of the federal government, the Pakistan Electronic Regulatory Media Authority (Pemra) on Sunday evening restored transmission of private television channels across the country. Private TV channels went off-air in most parts of the country for almost 28 hours before their transmission was restored. On Saturday morning, the Pemra stopped private […]
ISLAMABAD: People remained in the dark on Saturday after the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) ordered private TV channels to go off-air during an operation launched by local police and Rangers against participants of a sit-in staged by the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah demanding the resignation of the federal law minister. While hundreds of […]
ISLAMABAD: In April 2007, the editor of India Today circulated an email to his reporters. He wanted each of them to submit at least three story ideas that could be investigated by using Right to information law. Shyamlal Yadav was among the recipients. Little he knew about the India’s RTI law which was only two-year-old […]
Freedom in Pakistan, especially if considering the internet and its multiplying roles in daily life, is something of an illusion. Governments worldwide fear the ‘net’ and the anarchic freedoms it represents, freedoms of speech and expression that governments find inconvenient and seek to constrain, often with considerable success as the citizens of China would find […]
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the attorney general in the appeals filed by Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) and others against a Lahore High Court verdict in a case pertaining to Direct to Home (DTH) technology. The notice was issued for interpretation of constitutional provisions relating to freedom of trade, […]
HYDERABAD: At a dialogue discussing the implications of the media of Sindh Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration Bill, 2017, participants viewed the proposed law as a tool for suppressing dissent. The event, at which some speakers warned of launching a protest movement against the law, was organised on Sunday by the Sindhi Adabi Sangat […]
ISLAMABAD: Senator Farhatullah Babar Monday said that the real issue with the RTI Bill passed last week by the National Assembly was not whether it was a good or not so good law but the real issue was whether the mindset of civil-military bureaucracy would accept it and whether mechanisms provided in the law would […]
ISLAMABAD: The recently-passed Right to Information (RTI) Act will be significant step forward for transparency and accountability of the government but the real challenge lies in changing the mindset and culture of secrecy surrounding information at every level. This was stated by Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar while speaking at a seminar on Right […]
ISLAMABAD: Admitting that certain institutions in the country lacked transparency and accountability, former information minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Senator Pervaiz Rashid said there were “some institutions” in the country which placed hurdles in access to information. While speaking at a ceremony organised by the Coalition on the Right to Information at the National Press […]
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