KARACHI, Aug 22: The All Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS) has hailed the government’s decision to lift a ban on government advertising on the Nawa-i-Waqt and The Nation.

This was stated in a press release of the APNS, issued here on Monday after a meeting of its executive committee.

Announcing the decisions taken at the meeting, APNS secretary general Kazi Asad Abid said that the decision to lift the ban was a welcome gesture by the government which suggested that the government had belatedly realized that the use of advertisements as a lever was counter-productive and obstructed the growth of free press.

The committee discussed the unfortunate incident which took place at the Governor’s House in Karachi on the occasion of the prime minister’s press conference on Sunday and expressed the hope that such incidents would not recur. It accepted the regrets expressed by the Sindh government and said it expected that the governments would ensure that in future representatives of the fourth estate would be accorded due respect at official briefings and press conferences.

The executive committee decided to hold the APNS Awards Ceremony in November and to request the prime minister to be the chief guest.