South Asia Media Commission condemns TV journalists’ killing in Pak

October 5th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The new Pakistani Taliban chief has met journalists in Pakistan's lawless tribal district of South Waziristan to refute claims by Pakistani and US officials that he might have died. Hakimullah Mehsud allowed five reporters to interview him in the remote, mountainous district Sunday on the condition that it would be reported only Monday.

September 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The International Commission on uclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament will hold its fourth egional meeting - for South Asia - in New Delhi on October 24. Participation in the two-day meeting will include several ommissioners, a number of Advisory Board members and some 20 xperts from around the region.

September 1st, 2009 SINGAPORE - Singapore's DBS Group Holdings Ltd, the biggest bank in South-East Asia, said Tuesday that it has appointed Piyush Gupta from Citibank Inc as its chief executive officer, about five months after the death of its previous CEO. Gupta, 49, is currently Citibank's chief executive for South-East Asia and the Pacific and is to join the DBS Group in November, the bank said in a statement.

September 1st, 2009 UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. agency that defends press freedom has condemned yet another murder of an Afghan journalist working in Pakistan's north-west for his criticism of the Taliban last week.

August 14th, 2009 BEIJING - Chinese Government has decided to provide enhanced access to foreign journalists in a policy called "zero refusal", realising that it would lead to more objective reports about the country. "Zero refusal means that the ministries must designate people to deal with calls and interview requests from foreign media and that they have to give a response within 24 hours or the period they prescribe, no matter what the result is," The China Daily quoted Guo Weimin, Director of the SCIO press department, as saying.

August 11th, 2009 KABUL - Ten days before Afghans cast their votes for their next president and provincial council members, a five-member Electoral Media Commission has been set up by Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission to monitor the August 20th poll to ensure fair coverage to all candidates. A UNDP statement issued today said over 40 presidential candidates -two of whom are women- are competing for time and space on TV, radio and in the press.

August 4th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il granted pardons to two American journalists who have been held in the country for months, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported early Wednesday, shortly after former US president Bill Clinton arrived in the Stalinist state to secure their release. Clinton made an unannounced visit to North Korea Tuesday and met with Kim to discuss the status of the two journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee.

July 15th, 2009 Sharm-el-SHEIKH - Pakistan believes in "durable peace" in South Asia facilitated by the resolution of all disputes with India, including Jammu and Kashmir, its Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said here Wednesday. Addressing the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit a day before he meets his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, he said there had recently been "forward movement " in relations with India.

July 13th, 2009 NEW YORK - With the magazine and newspaper industry floundering in the US, the future of journalism and the need to embrace new media tools were critical issues at the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) Convention here. SAJA is a non-profit organisation that serves as a networking forum for journalists of South Asian origin in the US.

July 3rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has spent about 10 billion dollars in the war on terror during the financial year 2008-09, the chairman of the Panel of Economists of the Planning Commission, Hafiz Pasha has said. Talking to media persons, after releasing the Human Development in South Asia Report 2008, Pasha said the ongoing military operation in the Swat and Malakand Divisions is likely to cost an additional 100 billion rupees.

June 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Commonwealth Journalists Association (CJA) president Hassan Shahriar has expressed "shock and outrage" at the arrest last week of seven Gambian journalists, saying government's anti-democratic actions "are another stain on the country's already poor international reputation". The seven were charged with conspiracy and sedition for issuing a statement on June 12 criticising the Gambian President Yahya Jammeh for his comments on the unsolved 2004 murder of a prominent editor, Deyda Heydara, in the west African nation.

June 14th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Nepal's Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has said the government would ensure security to journalists and would take action against those involved in attacks against journalists at Hotel Malla earlier this week. Speaking to journalists at his Baluwatar residence on Sunday morning, Nepal said his government would leave no stone unturned to provide a safe and sound working environment for journalists.

May 5th, 2009 IMF urged to link Sri Lanka loan to rightsCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The International Monetary Fund must insist that Sri Lanka's government respect media rights and the rule of law before granting any new lending, a press freedom group said Tuesday. The Sri Lankan military's recent successes against separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in the north have been accompanied by a "ruthless campaign" against the media and dissidents, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders wrote in a letter to the IMF.

April 18th, 2009 LAHORE - Concerned by the increasing extremist activists and their expanding writ in the area, the European Commission (EC) has adopted a new three-year programme to fight terrorism, trafficking and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction for Pakistan and Afghanistan. The programme, which is developed by the EC together with experts from European Union (EU) member states, also includes Africa's Sahel region, The Daily Times reports.

January 29th, 2009 LAHORE - The future of Pakistan-India relations depends on the investigation into the Mumbai attacks, a senior official of the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) said here Friday. Imtiaz Alam, secretary general of SAFMA, said the objective of a Peace Mission’s visit to India was aimed at restoring the broken ties between the two neighbors.