Cable operators offer lame excuse of security threat

 

ISLAMABAD: In response to the cable operators’ bogus excuses that they cannot show Geo because of security threats, a Jang Group spokesman has come up with a rejoinder.
The spokesman said it is a bogus excuse and a total lie. The incident in Sadiqabad was also totally stage-managed to create this excuse. No one threatens these cable operators when they show round-the-clock illegal Indian dances. No one threatens these cable operators when they show channels that have shown blasphemous content 60 times more than Geo.

The spokesman said as many as five channels also faced many court cases and police action in this regard but surprisingly, the cable operators do not receive threats for showing these channels. Even before Geo has shown it, two leading channels have already aired it many times.

The spokesman said a security threat was also raised as an excuse during the last government when cable operators suspended transmission of Geo News. The excuse of a security threat then was exposed as completely bogus when the Supreme Court of Pakistan told chairman Pemra that he could not leave the courtroom till the Geo News transmission was restored by cable operators all over the country. The result was that within three hours, Geo News’ transmission was restored all over the country.

The spokesman said cable operators, just like broadcasters, are operating on the basis of a licence that they have applied for and that Pemra has granted them. The basic term of the license is that no cable operator can itself suspend or disrupt transmission of a licensed channel unless Pemra directs it to do so. If a cable operator violates this term of licence, its licence is liable to be revoked. Even if security threat is accepted as genuine, this cannot be used as an excuse for a cable operator to violate the term of their licence by illegally suspending Geo’s transmission.

“What if a duly licensed mobile phone company suspends its mobile phone network for a week and uses security threat as an excuse when PTA wants to suspend its licence? What if a duly licensed commercial bank shuts down all its operations all over the country and uses security threat as an excuse when State Bank of Pakistan wants to suspend its licence? And what about our police that face life threat on a daily basis? Can police officers remain at home drawing the salaries on the pretext that they are facing security threats? And what about courts and honourable judges, especially those of lower courts, who are expected to try and convict dangerous criminals and terrorists?” the spokesman said.

He reminded that when Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court Qazi Faiz Isa summoned journalists and editors of all the newspapers of Balochistan and questioned them as to why they were publishing versions of terrorists, who claimed responsibility of killing policemen. When publishers of those newspapers produced before him evidence of serious threat that they are facing in Balochistan, Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa gave them a long summon. He said that don’t publish any newspaper if you cannot face any threat. He said if security threat is accepted as a valid excuse to break the law then there will be anarchy all over the country. The chief justice also said that if security threat is valid then he and his fellow judges in Balochistan should stop hearing cases and dispensing justice just because their lives were threatened.

The spokesman said the cable operators have decided to do their business in Pakistan within the prevailing environment. They cannot pretend that they are working in some European country. Lawyers, judges, police etc. everyone is facing security threat in Pakistan these days. This does not exempt people to just violate their legal obligation and use security threat as an excuse.

He said Geo itself received a most direct and serious threat in writing from terrorists who wanted their version and their ideology to be properly broadcasted. “Just because it received the threat, can Geo broadcast TTP’s version when it is murdering and beheading our soldiers? Will its licence not be liable to be revoked? Can any channel in Pakistan start showing TTP’s version round the clock just because it is facing security threats?”

The spokesman further said even if the threat being faced by cable operators is genuine, then it has nothing to do between cable operation (the licensee) and Pemra (the licensor) for correct and legal position is if any cable operator violates terms of its licence, e.g. by keeping transmission of Geo suspended when Pemra has directed them to show it, its licence is liable to be revoked. If a cable operator is receiving life threat because of some business dispute or professional rivalry or from some extortionist or criminals or even because of showing any channel of Geo, it is a matter between cable operator and police. If they are facing any threat then they should seek help from police and pursue remedies through law enforcing agencies. Instead of the path provided under the law they cannot just suspend valid transmission of Geo and thus violate a direction of Pemra.

The spokesman said suspension of Geo News by Pemra ended two weeks ago and Pemra has never suspended Geo Kahani and Geo Tez. Despite this, Geo News is either not being shown in 80 per cent areas of Pakistan or it has been pushed to last channels where it is difficult/impossible for viewers to find. Geo Kahani and Geo Tez are also not being shown.

He said the cable operators are deliberately refusing to show channels of Geo because they are being threatened for showing channels of Geo.The federal government and Pemra have only two options. Either what cable operators are claiming is a lie in which case they must take action against them to restore transmission of all Geo channels. Or if the federal government and Pemra believe that the excuse of cable operators regarding security threat is genuine they must make a candid public admission of it:

“a. All cable operators are liable to show Geo channels;

b. 80 percent cable operators are not showing it because some hidden force is threatening all of them from doing so;

c. There is nothing that the federal government can do about it because it simply has no writ to do anything about the people who are threatening cable operators.”

After that, at least Geo can claim compensation for the government’s failure to fulfil its obligations.

On the cable operators excuse that they are showing Geo at last numbers because it is their discretion on which number to show it and also that number of TV channels that have been licensed by Pemra is far in excess of the capacity of TV sets owned by ordinary people, the spokesman reminded that in 2010, when hearing a petition of Geo, honourable Supreme Court set up a one-member media commission to look, among other things, into the issue of shuffling and placement of channels. According to the commission report, cable operators are constitutionally required to show TV channels having nationwide viewership at starting numbers. This was a constitutional requirement and the right of the viewers. The commission also found that shuffling of channels, disrupting their signals, throwing them at last numbers etc. was illegal. The honourable Supreme Court adopted that report and made it part of its judgment.

In the latest petition of Geo News, honourable Supreme Court has once again reproduced from 2010 judgment and from the Media Commission Report and disposed off Geo News’ petition only when Pemra undertook to restore the channel to its original position. So it is not up to discretion of cable operators to decide to show Geo News at No. 3 position today and No. 93 tomorrow. According to the Supreme Court judgment each cable operator has a constitutional obligation to show Geo News and all Geo channels at their original starting numbers.

The spokesman said Pemra’s direction to cable operators also requires each licensee cable operator to restore Geo news transmission at its original position. This also shows that the discussion of their own discretion and capacity of TV set is bogus and mala fide.

The spokesman said all cable operators were showing Geo channels at certain numbers on 19th April. “Why is it that after Pemra received a complaint about Geo following attack on Hamid Mir on 19th April, cable operators are either blocking its transmission or are making every kind of excuse not to show it at its original position? Why is it all of a sudden cable operators are using excuses such as it being a matter of their own discretion and that TV sets do not have capacity to show all the licensed channels when there was no such talk before 19th April 2014?”

The spokesman said the original scheme put in place through Pemra Ordinance for regulation of electronic industry anticipated and sought to prevent this very problem by barring any broadcasters from owning or controlling a cable business and vice versa. The implementers of the scheme were aware that even if one TV broadcaster were given control over cable operation, it would use that power to damage competitors in the same way that the Geo’s competitors are doing today.

The spokesman said the real problem is that one media group that owns one news channel has purchased or, directly or indirectly, concluded a business deal with cable operators in the country while apparently cable operators are still continuing with their previous names and owners, in reality they are in the hands of one media group, the owner of which is openly boasting that Geo is finished, “I will keep Geo channels off air and because of lack of viewership they will not get any advertisements and they will go bankrupt anytime now.” The spokesman said all cable operators led by Khalid Arain are now employees of that group and they only do and say what the owner of that group instructs them to do.

Both Khalid Arain and owner of the media group use the name of hidden hands to get the Geo closed. They claim that they are acting on behalf of hidden hands. They also arrange meetings of cable operators with hidden hands.

The spokesman said if the apex court forms a commission, many secrets will come to the fore. He said the Pemra and the federal government are fully aware about the above dangerous development and are yet avoiding doing anything about it.

New allergy tablets offer alternative to shots

TRENTON: For decades, seasonal allergy sufferers had two therapy options to ease the misery of hay fever. They could swallow pills or squirt nasal sprays every day for brief reprieves from the sneezing and itchy eyes. Or they could get allergy shots for years to gradually reduce their immune system's over-reaction.

Now patients can try another type of therapy to train their immune system, new once-a-day tablets that dissolve quickly under the tongue and steadily raise tolerance to grass or ragweed pollen, much like the shots.

"It's been several decades since the last big breakthrough," Cleveland Clinic allergy specialist Dr. Rachel Szekely said.

The downside: The pills must be started a few months before the grass or ragweed pollen season. That means it's too late for people with grass allergies, but the time is now for ragweed allergy sufferers.

The Food and Drug Administration in April approved two tablets from Merck, Grastek for grass pollen and Ragwitek for ragweed, plus a grass pollen tablet called Oralair from Stallergenes.

The tablets could become popular with people who dislike pills that can make them drowsy or don't provide enough relief. They'll likely appeal even more to patients with severe allergies who fear needles or can't make frequent trips to the allergist, key reasons that only about 5 percent of U.S. patients who would benefit from allergy shots get them.

Meanwhile, new treatments for other types of allergies, including to peanuts and eggs, are in various stages of testing and could turn out to be big advances.

Drugmaker Merck & Co. has a tablet for house dust mite allergies in final patient testing that could hit the market in two or three years, and it's considering other therapies. France's Stallergenes SA is testing a tablet for birch tree allergies and, with partner Shionogi & Co. Ltd. in Japan, tablets for allergies to dust mites and Japanese cedar pollen. Britain's Circassia Ltd. has a cat allergy treatment in final testing and six others in earlier testing.

A handful of companies also are looking at possible new ways to administer immunotherapy, including drops under the tongue, capsules and skin patches, said Fort Lauderdale, Florida, allergist Dr. Linda Cox, former president of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

The new tablets are not right for everyone, particularly patients with allergies to multiple substances, Szekely cautioned.

That was the case with one of her patients, 10-year-old Samantha Marshall of Mentor, Ohio, who has been getting allergy shots since last fall.

"She's not loving them," said her mother, Rachel, who recently asked Szekely about switching to the tablets. Szekely explained that shots are more effective because Rachel is also allergic to weeds and dust mites, and the shots she receives are a customized mix of extracts to all those substances.

The tablets are also pricey: Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, is charging about $8.25 per daily tablet and Stallergenes about $10. Insurers are expected to cover most of the cost, as they usually do with allergy shots. Those generally cost only $15 to $25 per visit without insurance, because they're given by a nurse.

Allergy tablets are less likely to trigger a dangerous allergic reaction than shots, which have been used for a century, Cox said.

In Merck's testing, about 5 percent of patients experienced tingling, itching or swelling in the mouth or tongue, said Dr. Sean Curtis, Merck's head of respiratory and immunology research. Less than 1 percent had serious reactions, nearly all after the first dose.

Longtime hay fever sufferer Kim Steen of Sidman, Pennsylvania, participated in one of Merck's studies last year.

"After the second, maybe third week, I started noticing a difference in the symptoms," said the 41-year-old contracts administrator. "It was pretty significant, not feeling like you have a cold all the time."

Prevalence of hay fever in the U.S. has declined slightly since 2000, according to National Center for Health Statistics data. In 2012, about 17.6 million adults, or 7.5 percent, reported having hay fever, as did about 6.6 million children, or 9 percent. Millions more don't see a doctor and get by with nonprescription medicines like Benadryl or Claritin.

Treatment can be tricky because of body chemistry differences and the complexity of the immune system, which is still poorly understood.

"You can't just have one size fits all," Szekely said.

For people with mild hay fever, inexpensive pills that suppress immune chemicals called histamines work well. Allegra, Benadryl, Claritin and Zyrtec are available without prescription, often competing with store brands.

Other patients fare better on prescription pills or nasal sprays. But for patients with severe allergies, those aren't enough. They suffer - though hardly in silence - or try allergy shots.

Rarely, the shots cause systemic allergic reactions, from hives and itching to dangerous airway narrowing, because small amounts of allergen circulate in the bloodstream. That's why patients must be observed by a nurse for a half-hour after each shot.

With the new tablets, as they dissolve, the grass extract inside drains into lymph nodes in the neck, which produce protective antibodies against the effects of pollen that's inhaled or gets in the mouth. Since the extract is unlikely to enter their blood, patients need only be watched the first time, then can take the pills at home.

Typically, patients get allergy shots of gradually increasing dosage two or three times a week initially, then once a week for up to nine months, then monthly. After three years, at least two-thirds have minimal symptoms, while most of the rest have reduced symptoms.

With the tablets, patients start at the top dose, at least three months before allergy season, and continue through the season or even year-round.

The grass pollen tablets aren't likely to take off until next spring, although Stallergenes' U.S. marketing partner, Greer Laboratories Inc. of Lenoir, North Carolina, made Oralair available and began promoting it to allergy specialists in May.

Merck has followed study participants through three years of treatment and then two years after that, when patients still reported significantly reduced symptoms.

But Cox, the Florida allergist, expects that benefit to last at least eight years after treatment ends, nearly as long as with allergy shots.

It won't be clear whether the tablets will be a hit with patients or big moneymakers for their manufacturers until next spring, when patients and more doctors will be familiar with them.

Promotional fare offer from SpiceJet

SpiceJet, to promote its new flights, has launched a three-day special promotional fare offer on its network for travel originating in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Under this offer passenger can book their tickets with all inclusive fares starting at Rs 1,773 (from Hyderabad), Rs 1806 (from Vijayawada, Madurai, Rajahmundry & Tuticorin), Rs 1,859 (from Coimbatore & Tirupati), Rs 1,907 (from Chennai), Rs 2,009 (from Vizag) and Rs 2,123 (from Kolkata). Both direct and connecting flights are available as part of this offer. The promotional fare offer stared on Tuesday and will on April 10, 2014. Tickets booked under this promotional offer would be for travel between 1st June and 31st July 2014, the airline said.

Former management of PCB rejected ICC’s ‘Big-4’ offer, says Sethi

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Najam Sethi said on Monday that Pakistan was offered to join the International Cricket Council’s “Big-4” party but after the former management rejected the offer, a “Big-3” panel was formed.

Before leaving to attend the ICC meeting, Sethi made the revelation at Lahore airport. “The three major stakeholders of the Big Three wanted Pakistan to be in their fold and made the offer to the former management but its rejection of the offer cost Pakistan big amount in return,” he maintained.

An official of the board said that the Big Three have the understanding that a large amount can be generated through the organisation of Pakistan-Indian series and keeping that in mind the offer was made.

“The then PCB management refused the offer and harmed the country’s cricketing interests as accepting the offer would have meant greater share in revenue and say in tour arrangements.“Now the ICC does not need Pakistan after the rejection of such a rare offer,” he added.

Sethi further said that his aim is to restore Pakistan-India cricket as such contests are not only cricketing but bring revenue, peace and prosperity to the regional cricket. “Apart from India, bilateral series with other cricketing nation has been finalised up till 2020,” he added.

Sethi said that Muhammad Hafeez set a good precedent by leaving the T20 captaincy and now he, himself will supervise the process of finding a new captain and coaching staff while no corruption and favouritism will be tolerated in this regard.

“There are no groupings in the team and the players are united under Misbahul Haq and there is no rift between him and Hafeez,” he added.On the appointment of Rashid Latif as chairman selection committee, he said that there would not be any favouritism in selection of the players with his appointment.

MQM gets offer to join Sindh government

 

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) confirmed on Wednesday that the party had received an offer to join the Sindh government, but said that it was holding deliberations within party ranks following the talks held in Karachi between former interior minister Rehman Malik, the Sindh governor and the chief minister.
This was disclosed to The News by MQM leader and member Coordination Committee Waseem Akhtar just after Rehman Malik held a meeting with Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan at the Governor House and later called on Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah.

Waseem said that the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has offered the MQM to join the government, adding that the MQM has not demanded any portfolios as being reported in a section of the press.

He said that it was the second meeting in Karachi between Qaim Ali Shah, Rehman Malik and Dr Ishratul Ebad but added that the MQM Coordination Committee would take a final decision on whether to join the government or not.

Waseem was again asked to when the MQM would be joining the government, to which he said, “No decision has been taken as yet…Discussions are under way in this regard”.He mentioned that Governor Ebad had earlier met former president Asif Ali Zardari in Dubai to sort out various issues.

Waseem said that departments and ministries did not matter for the MQM.It may be noted here that Sindh Minister for Information Sharjeel Inam Memon had told a press conference at the Sindh Assembly that he would neither confirm nor contradict reports about the MQM joining the government.

He had further said that ministries or departments did not matter for the ruling party as the same could be changed at any time.However, Speaker Sindh Assembly had told The News that important departments could not be given to Muttahida.

It may be noted here that the MQM normally takes time to join the government as they say that they have had bitter experiences in the past and that they are accountable to their people and voters.Rehman Malik has been playing a vital role to bridge the gap between the PPP and the MQM.

Earlier, the ruling PPP and the opposition MQM remained engaged in negotiations to evolve a power-sharing formula and both sides were hopeful that the issues would be resolved amicably.

Sources said that both sides were busy settling the remaining issues and clearing the way for the MQM to join the Sindh government. However, independent sources claimed that the ruling party was trying to convince the MQM not to insist on the local government and excise portfolios, as the PPP had been holding both portfolios in the previous tenure and there were reservations in the party ranks on this demand.

The MQM spokesperson rejected the impression that the process of talks was affected due to the statements of some PPP leaders against the MQM and pointed out that the dialogue was still in process as per the advice of the top leadership of both parties. He pointed out that the party leaders were bound to follow the instructions of the party chief and avoid talking to the media as the high command of both parties agreed that no party leader would speak against each other in the media.

PPP leader Syed Khurshid Shah had recently raised objections against MQM chief Altaf Hussain for his statement regarding the role of the army, while Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani also criticised the MQM’s demand for the local government and excise portfolios.

However, the MQM spokesman said that the party leaders would not speak in the media against any PPP leader and hoped that the PPP would also follow the instruction of their party high command in this regard.

The Governor’s House issued a statement that during their meeting, Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad, Qaim Ali Shah and Rehman Malik agreed that both the PPP and the MQM believed in political harmony and reconciliation. They also said the leaderships of the two parties were engaged in talks to become coalition partners.

Merck KGaA extends offer period for AZ for fourth time

 

---

FRANKFURT: German liquid crystal maker Merck KGaA has extended the offer period for its planned takeover of Britain's AZ Electronic Materials for a fourth time as it awaits approval for the deal from Chinese antitrust regulators.

"While discussions with the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China (MOFCOM) are proceeding constructively and are advancing, MOFCOM's review is still continuing," Merck said in a statement on Friday.

Shareholders now have until March 14 to tender their stock. The previous offer period would have expired on Feb. 28. Merck, the world's largest maker of liquid crystals used in TVs and tablet and smartphone screens, agreed in December to buy AZ for $2.6 billion to expand its range of specialist chemicals for hi-tech gadgets.

It said on Friday that 64 percent of AZ shares had been tendered. Merck has made its offer contingent on securing at least 95 percent of the share capital.