Ban Indian films in Pakistan

A ban on Indian films in Pakistan's cinema houses would help the country's film industry 'develop and thrive', a Pakistani daily said Friday.

An editorial in The Nation said the demand made by a group of artists, singers and directors in Lahore Wednesday to ban Indian films in national cinema houses ought to be met by the government.
'That would help the national film industry develop and thrive.
'There are lots of cinema houses which screen only Indian movies and do not show any interest in playing Pakistani movies. The result is a gradual decline of our own film industry,' it said.
It warned that 'by not banning Bollywood films being shown in every nook and cranny of the country, we would only be letting the Indians succeed in their ploy of invading us culturally'.
The editorial, however, did not go into the details of what it described as cultural invasion.
It claimed that according to the group of Pakistan movie directors, 'certain self-seeking individuals associated with Lollywood are reaping huge benefits by making huge investments in India'.
The editorial added that the government should not only ban Indian films from Pakistan's cinema houses, 'but also from the various private TV channels that keep broadcasting them'.
'The policy of letting India disseminate its culture freely in Pakistan is dealing a serious financial blow to the Lollywood industry and polluting the minds of the youth,' it said.

Accused Of Bank Robbery

A man acquitted of murdering a rival gang member in Boston has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he robbed a San Leandro bank.

Jonathan Scott Sanders, 22, robbed a Fremont Bank of $950 on June 8 after handing over a demand note and telling a teller, "Give me big bills, b," FBI Special Agent Lesline Wimbley wrote in an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Oakland. At the time of the robbery, Sanders had a gold grill over his teeth and a stud earring in his left ear, authorities said.
An informant told San Leandro police a day after the holdup that the suspect's nickname was "Boston" and that he had "beat a murder rap" in Massachusetts, Wimbley wrote. Local media reports said Sanders was acquitted of gunning down a rival gang member on a bus.
Boston police positively identified Sanders from a bank surveillance photo, and he was arrested June 16 by San Leandro police. At the time of his arrest, Sanders had an earring but no gold "grill," the affidavit said. The demand note included fingerprints belonging to both Sanders and the informant, authorities said.
"I know based on training and experience that bank robbers will fabricate gold "grills" to create misidentifications," Wimbley wrote.

Civil Liberties

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday urged the police forces to 'honestly discharge their duties' and function within the democratic framework to 'scrupulously respect and uphold' civil liberties.

'Our country currently witnessed an outpouring of public anger against corruption. Life in the service of the people of India is a noble calling, particularly for those charged with the responsibility of lives and security of citizens,' Manmohan Singh said at the all India conference of the directors general and inspectors general of police here.
'People who enlist themselves for such a cause must, therefore, take pride in their ability to honestly discharge their duties.'
Though he did not name the anti-graft movement of Anna Hazare, who sat on a 12-day fast at Ramlila Maidan in the capital in August demanding a strong Lokpal bill, his reference to the anti-corruption protest was more than an indication.
'Crowd control techniques in a democracy, where people often rigorously vent their opinions and sometimes their frustrations, have to strike a fine balance between the requirement to maintain law and order and the imperative of using absolutely minimum non-lethal force,' he said.
Noting that the Jammu and Kashmir Police, which had to deal with stone-pelting by protesters last summer, had improved their capabilities considerably in this regard, the prime minister said: 'We need to be keep looking at newer methods and methodologies and technologies of handling demonstrations.'
Reiterating his call made at the recent National Integration Council meeting against perceived biases, sometimes, of the law enforcement and investigation agencies against minorities, Singh said the existence of such a perception 'is inimical to effective policing', which must necessarily draw upon the confidence and cooperation of all sections of the population it served.
'I would like you to consider ways and means to deal with the causes of such perception wherever they exist,' he appealed.
Manmohan Singh said these were 'difficult and challenging times' for the country's security forces.
'Our social fabric continues to be targeted by organised terrorism, abetted by misguided zeal and false propaganda among the youth and the marginalised sections of society,' he said.
Manmohna Singh noted that the security forces had to contend with Left-wing militancy, parochial and chauvinistic movements, and tensions caused by social-economic imbalances and inequity, and also by rapid urbanisation.
'Policing the metropolitan areas, the control of organised of crime and the protection of women and the elderly require special attention,' he said.
'While dealing firmly with these challenges, our police forces must function within the bounds of a democratic framework, within which the democratic rights of our people are scrupulously respected and upheld. I am sure that if our forces are led ably and guided properly, they will find themselves more than equal to the task, daunting though they are,' he added.

Sacrificing Civil Liberties

People in America are deeply divided over whether their civil liberties should be sacrificed to fight terrorism, according to a new poll.
According a survey public accepted some government intrusions than other.
The survey showed that 71 percent supported the use of surveillance cameras in public places as it would help to watch suspicious activities, but fewer than half favored the use of a national ID card, the Daily News reports.
Fifty-eight percent were in favor of random full-body scans at airports, while 35 percent were in favor of ethnic or racial profiling to determine who gets screened, the survey revealed.
The poll also revealed that nearly half of Americans believe the government should be allowed to read emails sent outside the US without a warrant, but that drops to under a third for emails sent inside the country, the report said.
Half of the people surveyed believed that they have lost some personal freedoms since September 11 attack, and half of those said it 'wasn't necessary'.