After the success of Khuda Kay Liye; Mehreen Jabbar's first venture, Ramchand Pakistani is yet another film that is being credited with the revival of Pakistani cinema. Following an exclusive screening for the Prime Minister of Pakistan in Islamabad, the film premiered in Karachi just days ahead of its August release.

"I am extremely happy today, one of the main reasons being the presence of the entire film's cast which is an exciting factor. Seeing this, I am recollecting the days when the film was shot. The movie has been screened before in Islamabad but that was an extremely formal and official one. Today amongst the presence of the film's cast, theatre personalities, and many old friends, this occasion is even more special. The film has also received an award at the Osian," said Nandita Das.

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Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's media czars goofed up his maiden television address that even otherwise turned out to be drab, dull and unimpressive. The premier's TV address was planned over two weeks back. There was sufficient time to rehearse for the inaugural speech to leave a good impact on the audience. It was not a huge task and only demanded a sharp mind to manage such a small job in a flawless manner.

The notion that the Gilani government has nothing in stock for the poor (and this is exactly what has also come out as the result of his speech) may not surprise many because this was what was being expected by his inexperienced media team.

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 Pakistan Radio has been attempting to spread communal strife in the border areas of Punjab through making allegations that the recruitment of Sikhs into the Indian Army is on the decrease due to the anti-Sikh policies of the Government.

In one of its recent Punjabi Darbar broadcasts, it also alleged that the India's development and prosperity is limited only to the procurement of arms and ammunition through corrupt means.

Countering these allegations, Lt. Colonel (retired.) Atma Singh said: "This is very simple to understand that Pakistan is trying to exploit Sikhs for their own interests. They are trying to keep their moral high while saying all this in an effort to demoralize us."

"But Sikhs are very much aware about this false propaganda and the educated Sikh youth knows their path of success. Pakistan will not reap benefits from such propaganda," Singh added.

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In preparation for Pakistan’s February elections, Internews Network has built newsrooms at three independent FM radio stations in Pakistan – Power 99 in Islamabad, Mast 103 in Lahore and Apna 107 in Karachi. Internews has also been training radio station staff in international journalism standards and ethics and helping them put well-researched and balanced news programs on the air.
“In Pakistan, reaching out to traditionally information-deprived areas is fraught with challenges for the broadcast sector,” said Adnan Rehmat, Country Director for Internews in Pakistan. “There is a dearth of professional journalists, an extremely limited grasp of technical and research skills, and insufficient field-based and relevant information programming. This elections project is intended to fill that gap as well as provide Pakistani citizens with accurate, professional news through the election season.”
In the February national elections, Pakistan’s 82 million voters will elect a new national parliament, a federal government and four provincial legislatures, including ones in the troubled provinces of North West Frontier and Baluchistan.
These will be the first elections in Pakistan to be held in the presence of independent broadcasters. The country now has 65 radio stations and 70 television channels, which could play a significant role in educating voters and ushering in an era of democracy.
Internews’ work building newsrooms at radio stations in Pakistan is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for Democracy.
Internews has created an online slide show documenting the process of preparing Pakistan’s reporters for elections coverage, from installing phones in the newsrooms to working with reporters to plan and edit stories.

Amritsar, Jan 21 (ANI): The Government of Indian Punjab has strongly rebutted Pakistan Radio allegations that the Indian Government misused the anti-terror laws like POTA against minorities in the state.

A Punjab Government Cabinet Minister, Gulzar Singh Ranike, said: This is absolutely false allegation. I have myself served in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Nagaland, Laddakh and other parts of the country, and I havent witnessed any incident in which the authorities have discriminated against minorities.

The credentials of Pakistan Radio are now being questioned as it persistently tries to spread strident anti-India disinformation through its “Punjabi Durbar” programme.

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When it comes to gender equality, India has a mixed record. While a number of women work their way up in sunrise industries, women in rural areas struggle to lead a dignified life. In places like Africa, the struggle is even more uphill as women have to tackle poverty and economic inequality.

“There, women can't do the simplest of things like owning a mobile phone," said Revi Sterling, a research scholar at University of Colorado's Atlas Institute. Ms Sterling's doctoral research, however, brought freedom to women in Kenya and she expects her solution would help Indian women as well.

If men don't like women brandishing mobile phones, or if women can't afford to pay for them, the best way is to look for an alternative. And Ms Sterling has done precisely that: she designed Alternative through Interactive Radio (AIR), a device that allows women to interact through community radio.

“This is a simple-to-use device," Ms Sterling explained at a conference on ICTD (Information and Communication Technology for Development), organised jointly by Microsoft Research and IIIT in Bangalore. “As (the women) talk, it records their voice, much like a digital recorder, and through an Ad hoc network, allows the recorded information to reach the nearest device and also the radio station. This saves them the time and effort of going to the radio station and recording their opinions."

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Radio Pakistan through its 25 stations located at as many places in the country as on air for 300 hours daily in the Home Service using 20 languages and reaches 75% of the area and 95% of the population of the country. Nearly half the time is devoted to information and education and remaining half to entertainment. In its programme-fare PBC makes use of all the formats in order to reach its listeners by catering to their interests. Programme fare is a balanced combination of information entertainment specially music and education. General programme categories are music (48%), religious (12.5%), News and current affairs (11%), Women Children and Labour (5%), Youth-Students (3%), Forces (2%), Rural & Farm (10%),Drama/Features (2%), Publicity Campaigns (2%) and Science, Technology, Health (2%) and Sports (2.5%). Radio gives special attention to sports because in games like Cricket and Squash, Pakistan produced players whose international records cannot be easily broken. Jehangir Khan and Jan Sher Khan are such players who won all the international Squash matches for years together.

  Sports Coverage of Pakistan radio  has added advantage to  its listeners club the live ball to ball commentary  in  the recent world cup by the  Pakistani radio station such as  FM  Radio station  has  really contributed  a lot from their side  for the  lover of the cricket  World cup which is in final stage   to Semi Finals  as the best of eight team are   in their last  stages  of   qualifying  for the    world cup semi Finals . This sort of entertainment as really given boost to radio  listeners even at their workplace  to know the latest  situation of the  point table and the teams  of their  choice in live action.

  The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation had been the only medium of News and views on the current affairs as well as well . People used to listen  Radio News with keen interest in the olden Times when there was no television or cable TV network . Radio had played the operate of the only messenger which gave news round the clock to keep the people abreast of the latest developments . The radio News was listened with keen interest and after listening the news the people used to discuss the problems and the issues of the country with each other  but now the quality news has faced  lower response as there are many sources available for news  24 hours seven days week .

  The Broadcasting in Pakistan is still a dream to be true in coming days. If one listen to the music played on Radio , it gives the scenario of the 1970s, 80s ,90s when the Madam Noor Jehan and The famous Ghazal singer and pride of Pakistan Mehdi Hassan used to sign magical voiced songs  which really captured the hearts of the people listening to the pollution free music . But the trend has really changed .The new pop music has replaced the Classical Music. So the youth today demands the new music which is exciting and glamorous as well. That’s why FM radio channels are gaining popularity in the   Radio broadcasting. They not only present Ghazals but they also play Pop Songs  in Urdu and English as well this gives them boost in terms of listeners’ . so it is recommended that PBC must think over the news trends and arrange the Programmes according to demands of the listeners because they are people who like dislike or comment on their quality of programming .