Afghanistan Council of Ministers shut down the private television network Emrooz charging it with fomenting religious differences and disrupting national unity.

An announcement issued by the office of the president states that the continued activity of this television network was highly hazardous to the government's rule and therefore the Ministry of Intelligence and Culture was charged to immediately shut them down.

Najibollah Kabuli, member of Afghanistan's parliament and head of Emrooz television condemned the move saying that this action is a result of pressure from Shiite religious leaders and his own opposition to Iranian policies.

In the past months, a number of demonstrations were staged in several cities of Afghanistan to protest the alleged execution of tens of Afghan nationals in Iran. The demonstrators expressed severe anti-Iran positions in the course of the demonstrations condemning Iranian leaders and burning images of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Khamenei. Reportedly, Najibollah Kabuli was the organizer of the Kabul demonstrations and he also participated in the event.

A Regional Officer in India's Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), which certifies new films, was caught red-handed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), while he collected a bribe for issuing a film certification.

The CBI officials arrested Mr Rajasekar while he was accepting bribe amount of Rs 10,000 from a film producer in his office at Shastri Bhavan, Chennai.

CBI officials have not disclosed anything about the documents, materials and cash recovered from Rajasekar so far. The CBI have also refused to identify the producer who gave the bribe nor the name of the film involved.

The High Court of Pakistan has banned the release of the much awaited film Tere Bin Laden aka Tere Bin which deals with a bold edgy subject and problems post 9/11.

Previously on the order of Censor Board, the name Laden was dropped from Tere Bin Laden in Pakistan as a precautionary measure and now considering the kind of tensions surrounding Pakistan, the release of the film in Pakistan has been banned. The Board claimed that the film supports Osama Bin Laden and terrorism by making the comedy film.

According to newspapers across the border in India, the makers of the film have also received an anonymous letter threatening them with dire consequences if it is released. But according to the makers, the letter was not from Al-Qaeda, because it accuses the makers of supporting Osama Bin Laden and terrorism, making one smell the Shiv Sena rat.

The makers of Tere Bin Laden were also releasing the film globally, except U.S.A. because the American distributor of the film felt that Tere Bin Laden has the potential to go beyond the Indian diaspora. Due to its ban in Pakistan, the film will now open only in places like UK, India and Australia and other international territories. Other releases are to follow after the makers study the business in various markets in its first round.

Update: Appeal

26th July 2010. Based on article from thaindian.com

Film exhibitors as well as the distributors from Karachi have gone ahead and filed a petition with the Pakistani Censor Board so that the Indian film Tere Bin Laden can be released in Pakistan.

The movie is banned all over Pakistan for panic of terrorist attacks.

The film, was released in India on the July 16. This movie also debuts Pakistani pop star Ali Zafar. He enacts the role of as an over-ambitious TV reporter, who uses the lookalike of the Al Qaeda chief Osama so as to get into USA.

Nadeem Mandviwalla, official distributor of movies in Pakistan says that they have filed an appeal with the Appellant Board of the Censor Board; however the Appellant Board of the Censor Board has withheld its decision till the next week.

India is considering drafting a new law to ban pornographic websites.

Minister of State for Home Ramesh Bagwe announced: We are thinking of introducing an act to ban pornographic websites. We will also request the Central government to amend the existing laws to make them more stringent.

He also police teams have begun patrolling cyber cafés to monitor downloading activities.

After refusing the certificate for public screening to a documentary film on Nepal, Flames of the Snow, on the ground that it justifies ideology of the Maoist movement, the Central Board of Film Certification Board (CBFC), has finally given a U/A certificate to the film, produced by a Delhi-based journalist, Anand Swaroop Verma.

Verma, who is an expert on Nepal affairs and was a member of team of international observers to monitor all elections in the country in recent past, told the news agency that the revising committee members of the Board along with chief censor Sharmila Tagore watched the film last week, talked to him on its content and asked to give a disclaimer to clear the film.

Quoting a letter from Delhi regional office of the CBFC, Verma said the disclaimer now said, The substance of the documentary has been compiled from various media publications and views expressed are of the individuals interviewed. It is not the intention of this documentary to offend the sensibilities/sentiments of any country or individual.

The SBFC had earlier refused to give certification to it by saying The 125 minute long , Flames of the Snow, tells about the Maoist movement in Nepal and justifies its ideology and keeping in view the recent Maoist violence in some parts of the country, the permission of its public screening can not be given'.

As violence in Kashmir escalates, Bollywood offers a story of violence in the region. Lamhaa, which stars Sanjay Dutt and Bipasha Basu, will hit theaters on July 16.

The film has already fallen foul with the censors and people of the state. The Central Board of Film Certification who reportedly objected to Kashmir being described in the trailers as the most dangerous place in the world, forcing its director Rahul Dholakia to make some cuts.

During the shoots, locals forced the crew to re-do a scene, as they were upset at the depiction of their homeland.

Update: Banned in Gulf States

18th July 2010. Based on article from filmyfair.com

Lamhaa is not going to be screened in Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, in and Oman as the UAE Natioanl Media Council Censorship Board felt that the content of the movie is highly objectionable and controversial.

The Indian censor board has already passed the film with an A certificate after 'correcting' two dialogues in the film.

Director Rahul DholakiaDholakia felt the action from UAE on this as outrageous.

In an attempt to control news channels, the Indian government has proposed setting up of a government appointed committee - the National Broadcast Authority of India - that will have the power to screen programmes or advertisements before broadcast, and formulate the content code.

The committee will have all the powers that were part of the controversial Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill, 2007, which had to be shelved because of fears that it would have led to censorship.

The I&B ministry's new draft envisages a three-tiered redressal structure with the initial two tiers of content monitoring being that of self-regulation. Grievances or complaints that are not settled by the channel itself or by the industry association (at the second level) will then go to the NBAI. The NBAI will be the final authority for all issues related to content and carriage.

While the oversight-of-last resort arrangement is clearly meant to ward off criticism that government wants to control content, this by itself may not assuage the concerns of censorship.

The ministry's task force report gives the NBAI the power to authorise officers to block news content if public tranquility is disturbed. It also suggests that the government retain powers to intervene in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of the country.

The NBAI will, according to the draft, comprise one representative of the media, while the other six members will include eminent persons with 15 years of experience from fields of law, public administration, finance, IT and social work.

News broadcasters expressed fears that the NBAI will be filled with retired bureaucrats or otherwise pliable civil society members as is the practice in nearly all regulatory authorities. The lone representative of media may find it difficult to put across his viewpoint.

Journalist Gamini Sumanasekara who was recently appointed as the Chairman of the Censor Board claimed the censor board had a bigger role to play rather than simply censoring movies.

The Censor Board basically generally categorizes films under three levels - The U certificate open for all sections in society, the X label for adults only films and movies that are more suitable for adults. Even in the West there are censor boards to monitor and categorize films, said Sumanasekara who has been involved as a Censor Board member for at least eight years under different heads.

Besides films screened in the country, scripts of stage plays and indoor musical shows including the songs due to be sung, have to be sanctioned by the Censor Board.

Our main concern is upholding our ethics and cultural values. There is a difference between our culture and those in the west. It starts from the family. For example we do not address our elders by name but it's different in those countries. We don't endorse excessive doses of violence in our movies and the same applies to sex too. But it also depends on the theme. We will have to establish whether sex is being forced into the creation in a subtle manner. It's our responsibility to ensure that creations that are screened do not carry harmful parts that influence or create any discord among any ethnic groups in this country, or violates basic norms in society, or any matter that would distort the minds of children. But at the same time we should remember that young directors may come up with novel ideas or even radical creations. We can't decide whether they are completely undesirable. Deepa Mehta's Fire was a good example. Though India banned the film we okayed it, said Sumanasekara insisting that they were able to act independently.

The Mahinda Chinthana policies have been endorsed by the people. There are clear-cut guidelines in the Mahinda Chinthana policies about arts and culture and we work within such a frame. I am grateful to Cultural Affairs and National Heritage Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi for appointing a multi-faceted team comprising professionals from diverse fields under the guidance of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Pakistan is considering a controversial new law that would restrict media coverage of suicide bombings and could be used to quell criticism of the government and army on the country's private television networks.

Under the proposed changes, TV journalists could be jailed for up to three years for broadcasting anything defamatory against the organs of the state.

The latest twist to the proposed law, known as the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority bill, drew an angry response from media groups.

Anyone with something to hide will be happy to root for this bill, said Talat Hussain, one of the country's most prominent television anchors. Those in power have a lot to gain from it.

The proposed restrictions would prevent the media from airing video footage of suicide bombers, the bodies of victims of militant attacks, statements from extremist leaders and any acts that promote, aid or abet terrorists or terrorism.

Live coverage of militant assaults would be banned as would anything defamatory against the organs of the state – a sweeping provision that could be interpreted to include most government activities.

Offenders would be liable to sentences of up to three years in jail and fines of up to 10m rupees (£80,000).

Separately, Dawn newspaper reported that military officials have come up with their own proposed restrictions, including a requirement that all security-related stories should be cleared with the military press office.