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Mar 18 2016
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Media Notes

News 03.18.2016

2. Drivers in Bajaur decry ‘highhandedness’ of political administration

KHAR, 17 March: Drivers in Bajaur Agency have complained that the political administration officials unnecessarily tease them and confiscate their vehicles.

The local drivers alleged that despite having proper driving licences and other documents, the administration officials bother them and confiscate their vehicles to mint money. A driver told TNN that his driving licence was stuck in Timergara due to an issue.

“Despite having all other documents, they manhandled me and impounded by vehicle. They are doing it for money. We demand the administration to stop this practice of teasing peaceful citizens,” he said.

Another driver said there is no licence office in Bajaur. “Licence law does not apply on our area as we are governed under the Frontier Crimes Regulation,” he told TNN.

On the other hand, Assistant Political Agent Khar said the crackdown against underage drivers and those not possessing mandatory documents has been initiated over public complaints. He said a number of drivers have been arrested and their vehicles confiscated for violating rules. He said the crackdown will continue.

3. Mobile service restored in Bajaur

KHAR, 17 March: Mobile telephone service has been restored in Bajuar after remaining suspended for two days, local residents informed.

The signals have been restored on Wednesday evening as people from different parts of the agency confirmed the connectivity has been gradually reestablished. However, there are still complaints of poor signals in some areas.

According to sources in the political administration services of all the telecom companies were cut off as they had not obtained the no objection certificate (NOC) from the relevant quarters which is required for operation.

The sources maintained that services on more than 10 towers of the concerned telecom companies have been restored as they obtained the relevant documents.

This after cell phone service was suspended.

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Jun 16 2009
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Media Notes

Iran: A Primer for CNN

IRAN ELECTIONcourtesy of Twitter. Thousands of users of the social networking site criticized CNN’s abysmal coverage of the protests in Iran on their Twitter feeds, so much so that the network was forced to respond.  Here’s an article about it from the NYT. CNN anchor Howard Kurtz defended the network by explaining that its coverage sucked less than the other networks.  +_+ Colour me unimpressed.

I don’t want to wax too euphoric about Twitter here, but it is certainly interesting that apparently neutral technologies can be deployed to register transnational protest.  Tweets are now coming in asking Twitter users to change the time and home listing on their accounts to Tehran in order to confuse the Iranian censors. Who says international solidarity is dead? It may only be episodic for now, but it makes one wonder what implications there are for a) modes of resistance and b) the configuration of the nation-state as younger generations learn to think of themselves as part of these networks which may themselves become more transnational.

Flash protests organized via Twitter are only the latest version of a common practice: using text messages to organize instantaneous protests. That method has been common in Iran, Pakistan, Palestine and well really, any place where cell phones have been cheaper and penetrated more deeply than the Internet. But CNN’s talking heads, with their usual astuteness, put it down to a copycat of the Obama campaign.

Right.  Our nationalisms are modular and now, even our potential revolutions are unoriginal. Dammit.

[Image: AP]

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