Sarmad Ali elected new APNS President

KARACHI: The annual meeting of the APNS General Council held on March 24, 2021 at the APNS House, Karachi, unanimously elected Sarmad Ali as President, Jamil Ather as Senior Vice President, Shahab Zuberi as Vice President, Ms Nazafreen Saigol Lakhani as Secretary General, Mohsin Bilal as Joint Secretary and Owais Khushnood as Finance Secretary of the society. Earlier, the General Council elected unopposed the Executive Committee for 2021-22.

The AGM was held under the chairmanship of Hameed Haroon, President, at the lawns of the APNS House, completely observing SOPs for Covid-19. The council unanimously approved the report of the Executive Committee for the years 2019-2021 as well as the annual accounts of the society for the years 2019 and 2020.

The General Council, attended by 146 members from across the country, formed an Election Commission headed by Ms Shimaila Matri Dawood with Nasir Daad Baloch and Mumtaz Ali Phulpoto as members. The Election Commission conducted the election of the Executive Committee for the year 2021-22.

Following were elected unopposed to the Executive Committee of the APNS for the year 2021-22 at the Annual General Meeting held on March 24, 2021:

Karachi Daily Seats: Aghaz, Business Recorder, Deynat, Dawn, Jasarat, Jiddat

Lahore Daily Seats: Jang, Khabrain, Tijarat, Dunya, Abtak, Pakistan

Rawalpindi/Islamabad Daily Seats: Ausaf, Sahafat

Balochistan Daily Seats: Awam Quetta, Mashriq Quetta

KP Daily Seats: Mashriq Peshawar, Wahdat Peshawar

Sindh (Excluding Karachi) Dailies: Kawish Hyderabad, Kaleem Sukkur

Punjab (excluding Lahore/Rwp/Ibd): Aftab Multan, Paigham Faisalabad, Business Report, Faisalabad

General Seats (Metropolitan Dailies): Pakistan Observer Islamabad, City 42 Lahore

General Seats (Regional Dailies): Halchal Hyderabad, Sayadat Bahawalpur

Periodicals seats: Naey Ufaq Karachi, Dastak Karachi, Roohani Digest Karachi, Naya Rukh Karachi

News & News Comments Periodical (Punjab/ KPK): Centerline Islamabad

News & News Comments Periodical (Sindh/ Balochistan): Ibrat Magazine Hyderabad

News & News Comments Periodicals (General): Cricketer Karachi

The new Executive Committee elected Daily Nau Sijj, Karachi, on woman publishers seat. The newly-elected Executive Committee appreciated the performance of the Election Commission. The members gave a standing ovation to Hameed Haroon, the outgoing president, for his services to the newspaper industry.

Earlier, the Extraordinary General Council of the society held a meeting in the morning and adopted a special resolution whereby not holding of the AGM due to pandemic for the year 2020-21 was condoned and the actions and decisions taken during the previous year were validated. --PR

Mumtaz Alvi adds: PTI Senator Shibli Faraz Wednesday congratulated the newly- elected APNS President Sarmad Ali.

He also congratulated Nazafreen on being elected as Secretary General, Jamil Athar Qazi as Senior Vice President, Shahab Zuberi as Vice President, Mohsin Bilal and Owais Khushnood as Joint and Finance Secretaries.

In a statement, he said that the selection of newly elected officials was a testament to their leadership abilities and the confidence of the media industry in them.

“We fully believe in the fundamental and democratic right to freedom of expression, Article 19 of the Constitution of Pakistan protects freedom of expression. We will strive for the promotion of independent and responsible journalism in the country,” Senator Shibli Faraz said.

He maintained, “We will pursue joint efforts, including the development of the media and all possible measures to address the challenges facing the media industry. Hopefully, the newly elected office-bearers will play their role in resolution of problems of the journalist community and media workers.”