The News reports on Wednesday that LHC has been petitioned to investigate the Punjab government’s laptop scheme and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif are respondents in the petition. According to the news report, The petitioner submitted that as per a report of the Transparency International the laptop scheme launched […]
The Punjab government finds itself on the wrong side of Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) due to the controversial laptop scheme. According to multiple media reports, TIP Advisor Syed Adil Gilani has written a letter to provincial secretary of the Punjab Planning and Development Department requesting investigation of possible violation of Punjab Procurement Rules, 2009 and […]
Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Nadeem Ul Haque had an interesting interaction with the media recently when a reporter from a local English daily called to tell him that he was scheduled to talk against the nuclear programme at the National Defence University (NDU) on December 26. Only problem was the reporter had his facts 100 […]
When Asif Zardari was whisked away to Dubai last week, rumours of a coup began to swirl in the tail winds of the president’s helicopter. As usual, this was the same show by the same old media circus with countless ‘journalists’ filing reports based on drawing room gossip and overactive imaginations. As the truth began […]
How often do we see academics, ‘analysts’, and experts of all sorts filling the newspapers and TV channels with shocking reports about this or that? It seems to be almost daily occurrence. Recently, businessman Munir Attaullah heard some claims and rather than simply accept them without question, he investigated the claims of Maria Sultan in […]
A column by Shahzad Chaudhry in Daily Times starts with a very informative history of drone strikes that illustrates how the tactic has increased over time. But then the author veers very much off of a straight path and begins weaving in baseless conspiracy theories. Questions are being asked of illicit relations between such agents […]
Very interesting comment on the power of words and the importance in choosing our words carefully as journalists. The author reminds us that we have through our words the ability to shape public opinion and heavily influence the path of the nation. This is a great power but also a great responsibility and we should […]
A visitor from another country who learned about the judiciary from Pakistani media might be forgiven for believing that there are two high courts in the land. One court is made up of innocent angels who are incessantly bullied by a power-obsessed strong man in the presidency. This court is described by Taj M Khattak […]
Last week, director at the South Asia Free Media Association, Khaled Ahmed, held a mirror to the nation’s commentariat and observed the uncomfortable truth that it’s only when non-Muslims kill Muslims that we complain. He was writing about how so many turn a blind eye to daily atrocities committed by Taliban jihadis, choosing instead to […]
by Farhat Taj Some people in Waziristan have requested that I write about a column published in the Urdu daily Mashriq on January 2, 2011. Following is the summary of the column, titled ‘Hakeemullah Mehsud’s lover’. A senior female French journalist contacted a tribal journalist form Waziristan via Facebook. The French lady requested him to […]