KARACHI, July 29: BBC World, the BBC’s 24-hour international news and information channel, is to launch a new weekly programme, Question Time Pakistan, on Friday, Aug 2, says a Press release.

For 13 weeks, Question Time Pakistan, presented by Mahreen Khan, will provide a platform for a studio audience of over 100 people to quiz a panel of four people on the pressing issues of the day.

Three of the panelists will, where possible, represent the main political groupings while the fourth panelist will always be a non-party figure such as a political commentator, analyst or journalist, to give an independent perspective. Questions will be put to the panelists by he studio audience through the presenter.

The launch of Question Time Pakistan is in line with BBC World’s desire to extend the focus of its South Asian programming to better reflect the whole region.

A series of one-to-one interviews with leading figures in Pakistan, Hardtalk Pakistan, was already launched in May of this year.