Shehri TV – Pakistan News, Current Affairs, Entertainment

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) Reacting to the debatable decision of the Punjab Curriculum & Textbook Board (PCTB) to ban nearly 100 textbooks in the province without serving notices to the publishers, Javed Jabbar, a former federal minister and author of quite a few books, has made it clear that errors or mistakes were part and parcel of book industry which got generally corrected in the subsequent editions.  “I endorse the views of the publishers that the PCTB should not have acted in such a manner even if they had found some factual errors or other mistakes in those books,” he observed in a talk show on a news channel.  “The reputable publishers and authors work hand in hand for printing books which are authentic with accurate information. But despite every conceivable professional efforts we still find odd mistakes in various books,” Javed Jabbar explained.  “Let me quote a couple of famous examples. A famous Cal...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) Iqbal Saleh Muhammad, an eminent publisher and bookseller, has welcomed the idea of forming an authority to regulate the contents of textbooks but at the same time he has strongly opposed a possible conflict of interest. “It’s fine to have a regulatory body to monitor the contents of textbooks but the same body should not be mandated to publish these books because it will lead to conflict of interest which must be avoided in the larger national interest,” the Managing Director of Paramount Books pointed out during a television talk show aired recently.  “In the past there used to be an organization by the name of National Book Council. Founded in early 1960s, it was being headed by the great Ibne Insha for many years. After acquiring the skill set from developed countries like England and Japan, they facilitated and trained the publishers and booksellers. It was a golden era for publishing and booksell...