Pakistan eyes their future

PBC Pakistan QSL (Gayle Van Horn QSL Collection)

Pakistan
Pakistan Broadcasting proposed to get major share of next budget's pie. Television and radio will be receiving the major share of the budgetary proposals outlined by the information ministry as the
government seeks to update equipment and infrastructure of the state broadcasters. This was disclosed in a report on the budgetary allocations proposed by the Information and Broadcasting Division for the financial year 2019-2020.

Around Rs3.1bn have been allocated for the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) with three projects worth Rs201.46m also proposed.

PBC's projects include the establishment of a 100-kW medium wave transmitter in Gwadar, rehabilitation of MW services from Muzaffarabad and replacement of MW transmitter at Mirpur, which also doubles as strategic equipment.

The Senate was told that Information Fawad Chaudhry has disclosed the establishment of a mega MW transmitter at Fort Monroe at an estimated cost of Rs2.5bn with the cabinet already granting its approval in principle.

The transmitter will be sufficient for Radio Pakistan's transmission not only in the entire country but also to cover parts of Afghanistan and India.
(xpress Tribune, 9 March)
(via BrDXC_UK "Communication" monthly Magazine May 9)
(Top news 1385/31 May 2019)

Pakistan Senate seeks to ban controversial programs

The Pakistan Senate’s standing committee for information wants to ban controversial programs of VOA (Voice of America) and Indian movies. The members of the committee were aggrieved that BBC, VOA and Indian broadcasts were easily accessible to all Pakistan, with special reference to the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) zone, while Radio Pakistan’s broadcasts in these areas were especially weak.

The members were also concerned about the fact that cable operators were brazenly broadcasting vulgar and obscene movies, and thus the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has failed to enforce its authority. The secretary for information informed that a committee headed by Justice (Retd) Fakharuddin G Ibrahim was preparing a code of conduct for the entire media.
(Source: Regional Times Online/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)