Pak govt bans current affairs show on Geo TV

Islamabad, Mar 16 (UNI) Pakistan's electronic media regulatory authority last night banned a popular news programme on the private Geo TV network, apparently for its coverage of the controversy over the suspension of the country's Chief Justice, reports today said.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) ordered the management of the Geo television network on Thursday night to stop airing its flagship daily news programme ''Aaj Kamran Khan Key Saath'' with immediate effect, the 'Daily Times' today reported, citing a Geo TV spokesman.

Geo News aired an apology to its viewers at 2305 hrs (PST), the regular time for the programme, explaining the government order that led to the banning of the show, the report said, adding that the ban was apparently imposed because the government disliked the coverage on the show of the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and the reaction to it.

''I never knew that the government would get so desperate and lose patience so soon with this free flow of information,'' the report quoted the show's anchor Kamran Khan as saying. ''We never had an agenda other than providing people the most accurate news and an objective analysis on this most important turning point in our history,'' he added.

UNI