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I. MEMBERSHIP
II. COUNCIL
III. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
IV. AD-HOC COMMITTEES, SUB-COMMITTEES
GOVERNMENT SECURITIES
V. SECRETARY GENERAL AND FINANCE SECRETARY
VI. ACCOUNTS
VII. AMENDMENTS
VIII. REMOVAL OF DOUBTS
IX-
Schedule "A"
X- Schedule "B"
1. The Society's membership shall consist of newspapers and periodicals as categorized hereunder:
a) NEWSPAPERS: The term includes all publications being brought out every day except closed holidays. The sub-categories of newspapers consist of Metropolitan dailies, i.e.daily newspapers publishing from Karachi Lahore, Rawalpindi/Islamabad Regional dailies, i.e. daily publications publishing from places other than Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, technical dailies i.e. a publication, that contains published material that pertains solely or predominantly to the fields of science, industry, business, commerce, trade, vacations and industries of all types, and language dailies other than Urdu/English
b)
PERIODICALS: The term shall include only such non-daily publications as have
a frequency not extending beyond but including that of a monthly
publication. The term also includes a sub-category of News & News Comment
periodical as defined in Article 40(x)and technical periodical as defined in
Article 1 (a).
Unless otherwise provided in these Articles the rights and privileges of
membership shall be exercisable by and the liabilities attach to as the case
may be, the legal owners of the newspaper or periodical.
2. A daily newspaper which has been in continuous publication for a period of at least 6 months and a periodical or LFP for a period of 12 months prior to the date of application for membership shall only be considered, for the membership of Society.
Once a publication becomes a Full Member, all
other publications owned by the same owner or any Associated Person shall,
if the owner or Associated Person or Associated Publication applies for
membership, be eligible for Associate membership only and shall not be
entitled to become a Full Member. Nothing in this Article shall affect the
membership status of existing Full Members for a period of 3 years with
effect from March 17, 2005.
Provided that associate members existing on the rolls of the Society as on
March 17, 2005 may apply for full membership despite being owned by the same
owner or any associated person provided they are eligible to become full
members.
Explanation: For the purpose of this Article Associated Person or
Associated Publication shall have the same meaning as "associated companies"
and "associated undertakings" as defined in The Companies Ordinance, 1984.
3. (1) Any publication desirous of being admitted to the membership of the Society will make an application in the form prescribed in Schedule 'A' hereto and such application shall be eligible for consideration by the Executive Committee only if it is accompanied by:
i) A non-refundable application fee of Rs. 2,000/- in form of a pay order in the name of the Society
ii) Following number of separate issues of the publication i.e.,
(a) For Daily, 25 separate issue per month for a period of six months,
(b) For Bi-Weekly, 80 separate issues for one year,
(c) For Weekly, 40 Separate Issues, for one year,
(d) Fortnightly 20 separate issues, for one year,
(e) For Monthly, 10 separate issues, for one year
iii) Copies of the declaration duly authenticated by the prescribed authority, printers certificate, National Tax Number and ABC Certificate In case any of these documents are not provided reasons for inability to do so must be explained in writing to the satisfaction of the Executive Committee.
iv) In case of a daily publication proof of the fact that the publication is subscribing to news service, if such service is available in the town of publishing. However, if the publication is unable to avail such service, it must explain in writing the reasons for its inability, to the satisfaction of the Executive Committee.
(2) No application for membership shall be considered by the Executive Committee unless complimentary copies of the publication are regularly submitted to the Secretariat since the date of the application under postal certificate.
4. An application received by the Secretariat complete with the requirements contained in Article 3, shall be placed before the Executive Committee as far as possible at its first meeting not later than sixty days following the receipt of the application. The associate membership shall be considered as having been approved if the application is supported by a simply majority of the members present in a vote taken in a secret ballot. The publication shall be admitted to the membership of the Society for any of the categories and sub-categories outlined in Article 1. In case of change in the category/sub-category the publication shall be required to apply for approval of the Executive Committee of such change. The decision of the Executive in this regard shall be final.
Provided, however, that the Executive Committee shall have the power to defer consideration of the application for membership till the next meeting of the Executive Committee without assigning any reason therefore.
4-A. Without prejudice to the right of appeal conferred by Article 5, a publication whose application for membership has been rejected by the Executive Committee may, at any time after 6 months of such rejection, apply afresh for membership to the Executive Committee as per procedure laid down in Article 4 above, by giving any additional information and reasons in support of their eligibility for the membership and such application shall be considered again for membership by the Executive Committee. The decision of the Executive Committee on such second application shall not be appealable.
5. A publication whose application for membership has been rejected by the Executive Committee shall have the right to prefer to the General Body of the Society in appeal within thirty days of the receipt of the communication intimating the decision of the Executive Committee rejecting application. Appeals so preferred shall be considered by the general body as far as possible at the first Council Meeting held after the appeal is lodged.
6. The Society shall have two classes of membership: i) Associate Members and (ii) Full Members. An Associate Member shall be entitled to all the facilities and privileges of membership, excluding participation in the meeting of the General Body or any special meeting. Further an Associate Member shall not be eligible for election or nomination to the Executive Committee.
7. Every publication on joining the Society shall pay an entrance fee of Rs. 5,000/- in case of Metropolitan Daily publication and Rs. 3,000/- in case of Regional Daily or Periodical Publication.
8. There shall be payable in advance for each year an annual subscription of Rs. 5,500/- in case the member is a Metropolitan 'A' Daily news paper, Rs. 3500/- in case the member is Metropolitan B' daily newspaper, Rs. 2,500/- in case the member is a Regional newspaper and Rs. 2,000/- in case the member is a periodical.
9. A publication whose application for membership is by the Executive Committee shall, in the first instance, be admitted as an associate member. After remaining an associate member for 12 months, such publication shall submit an application along with full membership fee of Rs. 10,000/- for Metropolitan publication and Rs. 5,000/- for Regional and periodical publication. The application shall be forwarded to the Scrutiny Committee appointed by the Executive Committee for scrutiny and recommendation. The report of the Scrutiny Committee in writing on such application, shall be placed before the Executive Committee, and full membership shall be considered as having been approved if the application is supported by a two-third majority of the members present, in a vote taken in a secret ballot.
10. A member shall be represented on the various bodies of the Society:
i) In case the owner of the publication is a company, by the Chief Executive of the Company or any person authorized by him/her;
ii) In case the owner is a partnership firm, a person appointed in writing by managing partner;
iii) In case the owner is an individual, by the proprietor or a person authorized by such proprietor;
iv) In case the Owner is any other legal entity, a person appointed by the body competent to manage the affairs of such organization;
Provided, however, that the person so appointed shall be a person regularly performing managerial or executive functions for the member, not below the status of a Senior Executive, belonging to the publications own organisation and shall have the full authority to take decision on behalf of the member so represented.
11. Every member publication shall be required to provide regular complimentary copies as per the periodicity laid down in Article 3, (1) (ii). The Executive Committee shall form every year a Scrutiny-cum-Enrollment Committee to set-up a procedure with respect to Scrutiny-cum-Enrollment Process within the APNS and suggest remedies including the procedure of suspension/expulsion/retention of irregular members as per the following definition of irregular/dummy publications and Code of Standards setout:
DEFINITION:
Wherein the opinion of the majority of the Executive Committee, a newspaper/periodical fails to meet the criteria laid down in the Code of Standards set forth hereunder - or is not being printed for bonafide reasons but for collateral purpose of obtaining paid advertisements under the garb of newspaper or periodical, the Scrutiny-cum-Enrollment committee may, after giving a show cause notice to the publication and after considering the reply, may expel such publication from, the membership of the Society. The expelled publication shall have a right of appeal to the Executive Committee provided by Article-11. In arriving at the opinion, it shall be presumed, unless proved otherwise by the publication, that the said publication is not a bonafide publication. Provided that a publication that fails to meet the criteria and the Code of Standards may be granted a one time only, grace period of 120 days by the Scrutiny-cum-Enrollment Committee. Upon being granted such a grace period, the publication on expiry of 120 days of earlier, if it so desires, shall provide a detailed report demonstrating that it has commenced and is continuing publication on the prescribed frequency. Failure to fulfil this condition will result in the expulsion of the publication from the Society and no further appeal will be allowed.
CODE OF STANDARDS:
1. That the publication occupies a physical premises in concurrence with the declaration of that publication and such premises be largely if not exclusively reserved for the publishing and/or printing of a newspaper.
2. That the publication has visible, cognizable and verified receipts of sales of copies in the defined area of its market.
3. That such publication has up-to-date tariff reflecting the prices and conditions of the sale and/or purchase of advertising space within such a publication.
4. That the contents of such a publication may be deemed to be original or largely original and that such contents reflect the current periodicity of such a publication.
5. That such publication must have within the establishment a reasonable number of full time or part time employees that are exclusively or largely devoted to the kind of journalism, printing or management within such publications.
6. That such publication demonstrates visible sources of news-gathering and or creative writings and other journalistic embellishments. Provided that a daily will be able to demonstrate a news agency source or lifting rights or reporters that demonstrate a continuous flow of news information.
7. That the frequency of publishing and distribution of such publication is in conformity with Article 3 of the Constitution of the APNS and that such copies reach the head-quarters of the Society on timely and regular basis as stipulated under the rules.
8. That such publication, if it doesn't possess its own printing press, is able to prove that the printing schedule is genuine and fulfils the requirement of timely periodic marketing.
9. That the majority or all the above descriptions and any other kind of verifications administered by the code of Standards and criteria will be deemed to be sufficient in defining whether a publication enjoys the status of authenticity and genuineness or whether it should be ejected from the membership of the Society.
12. The Society through its Executive Committee, in the manner hereinafter set forth, shall be competent to take disciplinary action against a member, if the Member,
a) Fails to pay the appointed date any subscription, money or charges due from it.
b) Commits a breach of discipline or in any way violates any rules or regulations or the code of Standard or decision of the Society or acts in a manner prejudicial to the interest of the society.
c) Fails to abide by the Code of ethics set forth in schedule B.
13. In case of any violation of the rules of the Society by a Member, misconduct or its failure to pay the dues by the appointed time the Secretary General shall have the power to issue a Show Cause Notice requiring the member to submit the explanation within ten (10) days of the receipt of such notice.
14. The explanation received from the
member shall be considered at the first ensuing meeting of the Executive
Committee.
VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES
15. The Member Publications and advertising agencies are required not to publish/release advertisements of blacklisted/suspended clients and or blacklisted/suspended agencies, advertisements of listed clients of APNS agencies through any source other than the listed agency itself. In case any member publication/APNS agency contravenes the above rule, the APNS suo moto or on the complaint of a member publication or an agency shall issue a show cause notice to the member publication and/or the APNS agency, to explain its position within 10 days vis-ΰ-vis the violation in question. In the event, the Executive Committee considers the explanation to be unsatisfactory, it may impose a fine and/or penalty as per the following.
ADVERTISEMENTS OF BLACKLISTED CLIENTS AND/OR AGENCIES
15. (i) In event a member publishes the advertisement of a suspended or black-listed client or the advertisement of a client listed with an advertising agency that has either been suspended or disaccredited by APNS, such member will be liable to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000/- plus a penalty equivalent to the gross cost of the advertisement as per the printed tariff of the member publication. The releasing authority, whether an advertising agency or an MBH, but not both, will also pay a fine of RS. 5,000/- plus a penalty equivalent to the gross cost of advertisement as per the printed tariff of the member publication. The releasing agency or MBH of the ad in question shall not be entitled to any commission on the advertisement. Notwithstanding anything contained above the releasing agency will also be required to pay the concerned member publication full amount for the ad published as per its release order.
15. (ii) In event a member publishes an advertisement of a suspended or a black-listed client or the advertisement of a client of an advertising agency that has either been suspended or disaccredited by APNS and there is no releasing agency for such an advertisement - i.e.: the advertisement is directly placed, the member publication itself will be liable to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/- plus a penalty equivalent to the gross cost of the advertisement as per the printed tariff of the member publication. Provided that in case of a government client, the fine will be Rs. 5,000/- plus the penalty equivalent to one and a half times of the gross cost of the advertisement as per the PID Tariff of the member publication.
ADVERTISEMENTS OF CLIENTS NEITHER BLACKLISTED NOR SUSPENDED
15 (iii). In event a member publishes an advertisement of a client through an accredited agency other than the listed agency of such client and if such client and/or its listed agency are not blacklisted and or suspended, the member publication shall be liable to pay a fine of Rs. 20,000/-, in case of a government client, the fine will be Rs. 5,000/-. The member publication shall also be required to credit the full agency commission to the agency listed at the time the advertisement was published, according to the printed tariff of the member publication to the APNS who will pay the money owed to the listed advertising agency. The accredited releasing agency or the MBH for a clients advertisements, who has been listed under APNS rules with another agency, shall be liable to pay a fine of Rs. 40,000/- and will also be required to settle the invoice of the member publication.
15. (iv) In event a member publishes the advertisement of a listed client that is neither suspended nor blacklisted, and nor is its listed agency suspended or blacklisted, by direct instructions from the client, full agency commission as per the printed tariff of the member publication will be credited to the agency on its claim for agency commission. Such commission will be paid to the APNS who will pay the money owed to the listed advertising agency. The member publication shall also be liable to pay a fine of Rs. 20,000/- to the APNS. Provided that in case of a government client, the fine will be Rs. 5,000/-.
ADVERTISEMENTS OF BIFURCATED CLIENTS THAT ARE NEITHER SUSPENDED
NOR BLACKLISTED
15. (v) In case a member publishes the advertisement of a bifurcated client through a listed agency other than the appointed agency for that product, and such client is neither suspended or blacklisted and nor is its listed agency suspended or blacklisted, full agency commission as per the printed tariff will be paid to the listed agency for that product. The member publication will also be required to pay Rs. 20,000/- or in case of a government client Rs. 5,000/-, as a fine to the APNS. The accredited releasing agency or the MBH for a clients advertisements, who has been listed under APNS rules with another agency, shall be liable to pay a fine of Rs. 40,000/- and will also be required to settle the invoice of the member publication. The releasing agency/MBH of the ad in question shall not be entitled to any agency commission on the advertisement.
Provided with respect to Clause 15, that if an advertisement is released in violation of the APNS rules by a non-accredited agency or a client directly, the full load of the fine or penalty has to fall on the member publication. If the releasing source is an MBH, which is authorized to act on behalf of the agency, then the MBH must pay the fine, and not the agency.
Provided further with respect to clause 15, that in case of repeated violations by a member publication or an accredited agency or a MBH, the Executive Committee may impose a fine not exceeding Rs. 100,000/- and/or a penalty equivalent to 3 times the gross cost of the advertisement as per the printed tariff of the member publication.
15 (vi) Co-branding of Different
Categories of Advertisers.
Whereas there are three categories of rate
structure relating to government, government commercial and private sector
of advertising in member publications.
And whereas the pure government and government
commercial rates are regulated by an agreement between the Ministry of
Information, Govt. of Pakistan and All Pakistan Newspapers Society which
provides following two lists of eligible government advertisers namely:
The agreement further
provides that any non-listed government advertiser irrespective of whether
the nature of his work is commercial or non-commercial will automatically go
to List B unless, duly notified for inclusion in List A by mutual consent of APNS and PID. In the absence of such consent, the government advertiser may
only advertise at the government commercial rates.
It was also agreed that the joint commercial
ventures by pure government clients and government commercial clients or by
government clients (pure or govt. commercial) with private sector clients
shall be charged at the rates whichever is higher.
Explanation: If a pure government client of List A attempts to issue a joint advertisement in conjunction which a List B client, the advertisement shall be charged at government commercial rates. Like-wise if a government client (List A or List B ) issues a joint advertisement with private sector clients, the advertisement shall be charged at commercial tariff rates of member publications. The joint advertisement means insertion of name, postal and / or e-mail address, telephone number, product / services information or logo of a client other than the advertiser releasing the advertisement in question.
Government / Government Commercial Co-Branding
The member publications, PID, advertisers and advertising agencies are required to strictly abide by the above agreement and the above rules. In the event a govt. advertiser / agency releases any advertisement overlapping or co-branding with clients of the other category of the rate structure, on lesser rate category, the releasing authority, i.e. the client, PID or the advertising agency as the case may be, shall have their insertion order with the applicable rates along with copy of the ad in question, routed through the APNS to the intended publications. The APNS if satisfied with the category of the advertiser and the rates structure mentioned in the release order shall authenticate the advertisement for publication. On failure of the releasing authority of the ad to follow the above procedure, the APNS on complaint of any member publication / advertising agency or suo moto, shall immediately suspend all the advertisements of the client and the advertising agency. In case of an advertiser with multiple agencies, all advertisements of the client through all multiple agencies will be suspended. The advertiser / agency suspended on the above violation will only be restored if it pays the difference between the rate on which the ad was released and the rate applicable to the higher category co-branding advertiser to the APNS within 72 hours of the date of insertion for all such advertisements appeared in member publications. The releasing agency shall also be liable to pay a fine of Rs.10,000/- per insertion within 10 days of the notice and forfeiture of agency commission calculated at higher category rate, failing which the agency will also stand suspended. This penalty is for the first violation of rules.
Any attempt by an advertiser / advertising agency to repeat such an offence after the issuance of such a circular will result in the imposition of a fine on the advertiser and the advertising agency, paying both an amount equivalent to twice the cost of the advertisement at the rate applicable to the higher category co-branding advertiser plus the difference in the cost of advertisement for each and every publication where such advertisements was inserted. The agency shall also pay a fine of Rs.20,000/- per insertion in each member publication along with the above penalty. The difference received by the APNS shall eventually go to the publications whereas the fine would go to the APNS. All agency commission in this respect, calculated at the rate applicable to the higher category co-branding advertiser will be forfeited to the APNS. The fine as well as the difference in the cost of advertisement must be paid within 72 hours of the decision of the APNS. Failing which, appropriate action inclusive of suspension of the clients and agencys advertisement will be made by the APNS within 7 days of release date of such advertisement in member publications. Restoration will only be possible after the payment of fine and cost difference to APNS and an undertaking by the advertisers and the advertising agency that in future all such advertisements will be released as per above rules.
Co-Branding among Govt. / Govt. Commercial and Private Sector Clients
In case a government / government commercial client co-brands with a private sector client, it must pay the full commercial rates to member publications. All such advertisements will have their insertion orders with applicable rates, routed through the APNS to the intended publications. Failing this, the advertisements of such advertiser will be immediately suspended by APNS notification. In case of an advertiser with multiple agencies all advertisements of the clients through all multiple agencies will be suspended. The APNS shall take action and issue the notice of suspension of such advertiser on the complaint of any member publication in writing or a suo moto exercise of powers by the office of Secretary General. In the event, the advertiser and the advertising agency will be required to pay the difference between the List A / List B rates and commercial rates for all such advertisements on behalf of all such member publications at their tariff rates where such advertisements appeared within 72 hours of the date of insertion. This penalty is for the first violation of rules. The releasing agency of such an advertisement shall be liable to a fine of Rs.20,000/- per insertion and forfeiture of agency commission by the APNS.
Any attempt by an advertiser / advertising agency to repeat such an offence after the issuance of such a circular will result in the imposition of a fine of Rs.50,000/- per insertion in each publication, payable to APNS on the advertiser and the advertising agency, paying both an amount equivalent twice the cost of the advertisement at commercial rates plus the difference in the cost of advertisement for each and every publication where such advertisement was inserted. The difference, being the one time cost of advertisement as per commercial tariff of the publication shall eventually go to the publication whereas the remaining cost / fine would go to the APNS. All agency commission in this respect, calculated at the commercial tariff rate will be forfeited to the APNS. The fine as well as the difference in the cost of advertisement must be paid within 72 hours of the decision of the APNS. Failing which, appropriate action inclusive of suspension of the clients and the agencys advertisements will be made by the APNS within 7 days of release date of such advertisement in member publications. Restoration will only be possible after the payment of fine and cost difference to APNS and an undertaking by the advertisers and the advertising agency that in future all such advertisement will be released as per above rules.
If a publication does not follow the APNS procedures in the above cases, it shall be subject to both a fine of Rs.10,000/- in case of co-branding by govt. and govt. commercial clients and an amount equivalent to the cost of the advertisement calculated at govt. commercial rates of the member publication. In case of co-branding of government / government commercial clients with private sector client(s) a fine of Rs.20,000/- and an amount equivalent to cost of the advertisement at full commercial rates on the publications tariff, which will then be paid into the APNS.
16. A member aggrieved by the decision of the Executive Committee in terms of Clause 15, shall have the right to prefer an appeal before the General Body of the Society and such appeal shall be filed at the latest within thirty days of the receipt of the communication of the decision of the Executive Committee. Provided, however, that in case of an appeal being filed against a decision imposing fine and or penalty for violations of rules and instructions of the Society, the member shall be required to deposit with the Society, the amount of such fine and or penalty at the time of filing such appeal.
17. If any member goes out of publication or ceases publication for reasons beyond its control, including any Government order or action, its membership with the Society shall continue for a period of six months or for the un-expired period of its subscription, which ever is later, provided that a request for such continuance is formally made by the publication and on consideration of the circumstances of the case the Executive Committee decides to approve such a request.
18. If a member publication, at the time of ceasing its publication for reasons contained in Clause 17, is also a member of the Executive Committee its continued membership thereof shall be decided by the Executive Committee by a simple majority of members present and voting. In the event that the Executive Committee decides that the member publication shall cease to be member of the Executive Committee it shall elect an alternate member who shall hold office for the remainder of the term or until such time as the disability of the previous member is removed whichever is shorter. Provided that in the latter case, the previous member shall resume his seat.
19. Any member shall upon termination of its membership of the Society lose all its rights and privileges as a member and shall forfeit all rights to and claims upon the Society, its property and funds.
20. Any member who has been suspended, shall not, while the suspension continues, and a member on whom a fine has been imposed shall not while the fine remains unpaid, exercise the privileges of membership and shall not be entitled to participate in any of the activities of the Society nor shall it be allowed to attend the Council meetings nor, if it is a member of the Executive Committee shall be entitled to attend the meetings of the Executive Committee.
20-A. In case of a vacancy occurring in the Executive Committee through resignation, suspension or termination of membership of a publication such vacancy shall be filled by the Executive Committee by co-opting another member to replace the outgoing member and the co-opted member shall hold office in the case of resignation or termination for the balance of the term of the outgoing member, and in the case of suspension, for the period of suspension or balance of term, whichever is shorter.
21. The supreme authority of the Society shall be the members in General Body Meetings. General Meetings shall be held at such intervals as the Executive Committee may from time to time determine or as may be deemed necessary by the President of the Society. Such meetings of the Society shall be called Council Meetings which expression shall include both the Annual General Meetings referred to in Clause 24 as well as Extraordinary General Meetings.
22. The Society shall have one President, one Senior Vice-President, one Vice-President, one Secretary General, one Joint Secretary and one Finance Secretary, (to be hereinafter referred to as the 'office bearers') who shall be elected by the Members of the Executive Committee from amongst their members.
23. An office bearer shall hold office for a term of one year in the first instance but shall be eligible for re-election for a further term of one year to the same office. On the expiry of two consecutive terms he shall not be eligible for election to the same office for a further term or terms unless and until an interval of a whole term shall have elapsed since the expiry of the second consecutive terms.
24. Every year there shall be held in the month of March at Karachi or at such other place as the Council may decide, the Annual General Meeting of the Society.
25. Notice specifying the date, place and hour of the Council Meeting of the Society and the general nature of the business to be transacted therein shall be communicated to every member, in case of Annual General Meeting at least 14 days before the meeting and in the case of an Extra-Ordinary General Meeting at least seven (7) days before the meeting. Provided that a Notice of Annual General Meeting shall be accompanied by a copy for the Report of the Executive Committee and as far as possible along with copy of the Audited Accounts of the Society for the financial year preceding the Annual General Meeting.
26. Any accidental omission to give notice to or the non-receipt of notice by any member shall not invalidate the proceedings at any meeting.
27. i) No business except ordinary business (as hereinafter defined) shall be transacted at an Annual General Meeting.
ii) Ordinary business at an Annual General Meeting shall be as follows:
1. To receive, consider and approve the minutes of the last Annual General Meeting.
2. To receive, consider and pass the annual report of the Executive Committee and the Account, which shall be submitted to the meeting.
3. To appoint Election Commission and Arbitration Committee.
4. To elect members of the Executive Committee.
5.To discuss matters of general interest including resolutions or proposals for which seven days clear notice shall have been given to the General Secretary.
6. To appoint auditors for the next financial year.
7. To discuss any other matter with the permission of the Chairman of the meeting.
28. All other business shall be deemed as special and shall only be transacted at an Extra-Ordinary General Meeting which may either be called by the Executive Committee at any time or by the Secretary General on receipt of a requisition signed by not less than one-third of the total number of Full members and deposited with the Secretary General of the Society who shall call such a meeting within one month of the receipt of such a requisition by giving fourteen days notice. In the event of the Secretary General failing to call such an Extraordinary General Meeting, the members shall have the right to convene the meeting themselves and such meetings shall be considered as valid, provided, however, that in case of requisitioning members themselves initiating the convening of the meeting it shall be obligatory for them to give all the members of the Society the required fourteen days notice and shall along with the notice supply to every member a copy of the requisition letter.
29. The quorum at any Council Meeting shall be persons representing at least one-third of the Full members on the roll of the society in good standing.
30. The President shall preside as Chairman at Council Meeting (and in his absence the Senior Vice President). Should the President or the Senior Vice-President be unable to be present, the members may elect any one of their number to act as the Chairman of the meeting.
31. The Chairman shall have power to adjourn any meeting from time to time and while adjourning the meeting he shall be required to record in writing the reasons for such adjournment.
32. Except for the election of the members of the Executive Committee voting at Council Meetings shall be by a show of hands unless a poll is demanded (before or on the declaration of the result of show of hands by the Chairman) by at least five members.
Except as otherwise expressly provided, all resolutions shall be carried by a simple majority of those present and voting. No resolution for a vote of No Confidence against any office-bearer, shall be deemed to be carried unless it has been passed by a majority of not less than two-third of the full members on the rolls of the Society in good standing.
A declaration by the Chairman that any resolution has been carried and an entry in the minutes of the meeting to that effect as confirmed at the subsequent meeting of the Council shall be conclusive proof of the number or proportion of the votes recorded for or against such a resolution. Each member of the Society will be entitled on a poll to one vote for every publication represented by such member in respect of which the required subscription has been paid.
33. If within half an hour from the time appointed for any meeting a quorum is not present, the meeting if called upon the requisition of members, shall be dissolved and in any other case it shall stand adjourned to the same day in the next week at the same time and place, and if at an adjourned meeting a quorum be not present within half an hour from the time appointed for the meeting, the full members present shall constitute the quorum.
34. In any meeting of the Council a full member shall be entitled to be represented, in the absence of the representative appointed under Article 10, by two alternate delegates, who posses the qualifications prescribed in the proviso to Article 10, either of whom shall be entitled to attend Council meeting and to take part, speak and vote in such meeting as the person authorized under Article 10 would be entitled to.
Appointments of representatives and alternate delegates shall be in the terms or to the effect following:-
"To the Secretary General of the ALL PAKISTAN NEWSPAPERS SOCIETY;"
"I
"of
owner of the
"being member of the ALL PAKISTAN NEWSPAPERS SOCIETY,
"hereby appoint Mr.
"of 'or failing him,
"Mr. 'of
" 'alternately
as my delegate in respect of the said newspaper,
Dated the day of
Appointment by Company/Partnership/Association
"To the Secretary General of the ALL PAKISTAN NEWSPAPERS SOCIETY
"We
"of
"owner of
"being a member of the ALL PAKISTAN NEWSPAPERS SOCIETY
"hereby appoint Mr.
"of ' as our representative
"and Mr.
"of
"or failing him Mr.
"of
"alternately as our delegates in respect of the "said newspaper"
Dated the day of
Instruments appointing representatives and delegates must be deposited at the office of the Society and shall not become operative or take effect until so deposited. Every representative and delegate so appointed shall be entitled to continue to act as such (not-withstanding the revocation of any appointment) until notice in writing of such revocation shall have been duly communicated either to the President, or the Secretary General or the Chairman of a General Meeting. Instruments appointing representatives and delegates shall be deemed to confer authority to demand or join in demanding a poll. This Article is subject to provisions of Article 10.
35. Votes may be cast by the representatives or by a delegate of a Full member duly appointed by the member, the authenticity of whose appointment shall be to the satisfaction of the Chairman.
36. The Executive functions of the Society including the general management and control of the business, conduct of relations with and between the advertising agencies and member publications and any other institutions or bodies concerned with the operations of the Society, shall be exercised by an Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall deal with applications for accreditation received from advertising agencies and shall have full power to accept, reject or suspend consideration of such applications. The Executive Committee shall have powers to enforce the Rules and Regulations for Accreditation and Conduct of Advertising Agencies as passed by the Council from time to time. The powers conferred on the Executive Committee under this clause shall be in addition to any other powers conferred elsewhere in the Articles.
37. The Executive Committee shall consist of 35 members as per following:
i) 34 members elected by the members of the Society at the annual general meeting of the Council under Article 40.
ii) One woman publisher/Chief Executive nominated by the members of the Executive Committee at their first meeting held soon after the Annual General meeting.
38. The outgoing President and Secretary General of the Society, if not otherwise being part of the Executive Committee under Article 37, shall be entitled, ex-officio to participate in the deliberations of the Executive Committee without having any voting right for immediate following the expiry of their terms of office as President and Secretary General of the Society.
39. The members of the Executive Committee to be elected shall be elected by the members of the Society at the Annual General Meeting of the Council.
40. 34 elected members of the Executive Committee shall be represented by the following categories:
DESCRIPTION NUMBER
Karachi Daily Seats 6
Lahore Daily Seats 6
Rawalpindi/Islamabad Daily Seats 2
Balochistan Daily Seats 2
NWFP Daily Seats 2
Sindh (Excluding Karachi) Daily Seats 2
Punjab (Excluding Lahore/Rawalpindi) Daily Seats 3
Periodical Seats 4
News and News Comment Periodical Seat (Punjab/NWFP) 1
News & News Comment Periodical Seat (Sindh/Balochistan) 1
News & News Comment Periodical General Seat 1
General Seats (Metropolitan Dailies) 2
General Seats (Regional Dailies) 2
i) Karachi daily seats shall be available for contest once every year by only that member publication which publishes a Daily from Karachi. Every daily member of Society otherwise eligible to vote shall have six votes but shall be entitled to cast only one vote for one candidate. The candidates securing the highest, the second highest, the third highest, the fourth highest, the fifth highest and the sixth highest number of votes shall be declared elected to such seats and shall hold office for a term of one year.
ii) Lahore daily seats shall be available for contest once every year by only that member publication which publishes a Daily from Lahore. Every daily member of the Society otherwise eligible to vote shall have six votes but shall be entitled to cast only one vote for one candidate. The candidates securing the highest the second highest, the third highest, the fourth highest, the fifth highest and the sixth highest number of votes shall be declared elected to such seats and shall hold office for a term of one year.
iii) Rawalpindi/Islamabad Daily seat shall be available for contest once every year by only that member publication which publishes a Daily from Rawalpindi/Islamabad. Every daily member publication of the Society otherwise eligible to vote shall have two votes. The candidates securing the highest and the second highest number of votes shall be declared elected to such seats and shall hold office for a term of one year.
iv) Balochistan Daily seat shall be available for contest once every year by only that member which publishes a daily from Balochistan. Every daily member of the Society otherwise eligible to vote shall have two votes. The candidates securing the highest, and the second highest number of votes shall be declared elected to such seats and shall hold office for a term of one year.
v) NWFP Daily seat shall be available for contest once every year by only that member publication which publishes a daily from NWFP. Every daily member of the Society otherwise eligible to vote shall have two votes. The candidates securing the highest and the second highest number of votes shall be declared elected to such seats and shall hold office for a term of one year.
vi) Sindh (Excluding Karachi) Daily Seat shall be available for contest once every year by only that number publication which publishes a daily from the province of Sindh excluding the territory of Karachi. Every daily member of the Society otherwise eligible to vote shall have two votes. The candidates securing the highest and the second highest number of votes shall be declared elected to such seats and shall hold office for a term of one year.
vii) Punjab (Excluding Lahore/Rawalpindi) Daily seats shall be available for contest once every year by only that member publication which publishes a daily from the province of Punjab excluding the territory of Lahore/Rawalpindi/ Islamabad. Every daily member of the Society otherwise eligible to vote shall have three votes but shall be eligible to cast only one vote for one candidate. The candidate securing the highest, the second highest and the third highest number of votes shall be declared elected to such seats and shall hold office for a term of one year.
viii) Periodical seats shall be available for contest once every year only by a member periodical. Every periodical member of the Society otherwise eligible to vote shall have four votes but shall be entitled to cast only one vote for one candidate. The candidate securing the highest, the second highest, the third highest and the fourth highest number of votes shall be declared elected to such seats and shall hold office for a term of one year.
ix) News and News comment periodical seat (Sindh/Balochistan) shall be available for contest once every year only by a member periodical published from the province of Sindh Balochistan which contains published material that pertains solely or predominantly to the contemporary National/International events/issues or comments thereon. Every periodical member of the Society otherwise eligible to vote shall have one vote. The candidate securing the highest number of votes shall be declared elected to such seat and shall hold office for a term of one year.
x) News and News comment/periodical seat (Punjab/NWFP) shall be available for contest once every year by only that member which publishes a periodical from the province of Punjab/NWFP which contains published material that pertains solely or predominantly to the contemporary National/International events/issues or comments thereon. Every periodical member of the Society otherwise eligible to vote shall have one vote. The candidate securing the highest number of votes shall be declared elected to such seat and shall hold office for a term of one year.
xi) News and News comment periodical general seat shall be available for contest once every year only by a periodical publication, which contains published material that pertains solely or predominantly to the contemporary material international events/issues or comments thereon. Every periodical member of the Society otherwise eligible to vote shall have one vote. The candidate securing the highest number of votes shall be declared elected to such seat and shall hold office for a term of one year.
xii) General Daily Seats (Metropolitan Dailies) shall be available for contest once every year by only that member publication which publishes a Daily from Karachi or Lahore or Rawalpindi / Islamabad. Every daily member of Society otherwise eligible to vote shall have two votes but shall be entitled to cast only one vote one candidate. The candidates securing the highest and the second highest number of votes shall be declared elected to such seats and shall hold office for a term of one year.
xiii) General Daily Seats (Regional Dailies) shall be available for contest once every year by only that member publication which publishes a Daily from places other than Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi / Islamabad. Every daily member of Society otherwise eligible to vote shall have two votes but shall be entitled to cast only one vote for one candidate. The candidates securing the highest and the second highest number of votes shall be declared elected to such seats and shall hold office for a term of one year.
xiv) Woman Publisher/Chief Executive seat shall be available to a member publication which is published by a woman or its Chief Executive is a woman. The members of the Executive Committee at their first meeting after the AGM shall nominate one such member to the Executive Committee for one year.
41. Notwithstanding any thing contained herein not more than one publication owned by a person or an associate company, persons or undertaking as defined in the Companies Ordinance, 1984 shall be eligible to hold or seek membership of the Executive Committee during one term.
42. Any elected member of the Executive Committee desirous of being elected as an office bearer shall nominate subject to article 10 a specific individual who if elected shall hold office in his individual capacity. Provided, however, that if after the election of such individual his credentials are revoked or in the case of his resignation or death fresh elections shall be held at the forthcoming Executive Committee meeting.
43. -deleted-
44. The President or any other office-bearer acting at any time in the capacity of the President may at any time summon or call upon the Secretary General to summon a meeting of the Executive Committee. Provided, however, that a meeting of the Executive Committee shall be held at least once every two months.
45. The Executive Committee shall have the power to appoint one or more Sub-Committees from amongst its members as and when deemed necessary. Provided, however, the Executive Committee may appoint Committees for different purpose; assigning them specific tasks, and it shall be competent to nominate to these Committee persons from amongst the members of the Society or persons who may be members of the Executive Committee, provided that the Conveners or Chairman of such Committees would be nominated from amongst the members of the Executive Committee.
46. Executive Committee shall meet in rotation at Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad or such place as may from time to time be decided by the Executive Committee.
47. A notice for a meeting of the Executive Committee shall be communicated to the Members of the Executive Committee at least seven days before the meeting. Provided, however, if in the opinion of the President or any other office-bearer acting at any time in the capacity of the President, the situation requires urgent action, not more than 24 hours notice shall be necessary.
48. Notwithstanding anything contained in Article 44, the Secretary General shall also have the powers to summon a meeting of the Executive Committee if in his opinion the matter is of sufficient importance.
49. The Secretary General shall be responsible for drawing up an agenda for each meeting of the Executive Committee and this Agenda shall be circulated to every member of the Executive Committee along with the Notice of the Meeting.
50. The agenda and all other communications shall be approved and signed by the Secretary General before circulation.
51. The Secretary General shall maintain all the records of the meetings of the Executive Committee.
52. One-third of the total members of the Executive Committee represented at a meeting of the Executive Committee shall constitute the quorum.
53. Unless otherwise provided by these Articles and subject to the provisions of Article 38, every question raised in the Executive Committee shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the Members serving on the Executive Committee and represented at the meeting. Each member of the Committee shall have one vote but the Chairman shall, in the event of the equality of votes, have a second or casting vote.
54. No meeting shall be adjourned if the majority of the members represented opposed the adjournment.
55. Any casual vacancies which may arise in the Executive Committee may be filled in by the Executive Committee by co-opting another eligible member, and the person so appointed shall hold office for the remainder of the term of the outgoing member.
56. The President shall be the Chairman at every meeting of the Executive Committee. Provided that if at any time he is not present within fifteen minutes of the appointed time for the meeting or has given previous advice that he will not be present, the chair shall be taken by the Senior Vice President and in the absence of both, the members of the Executive Committee present shall elect one member from among themselves to be the Chairman of that meeting.
57. The ruling of a Chairman at any meeting of the Society or of the Executive Committee on any point of order shall be final and shall not be discussed.
57-A, (i) There shall be an Election Commission consisting of a Chairman and two other members, who shall be appointed by the General body before the holding of the annual Elections. However, this Article will come into effect after 31st March, 1989.
(ii) The term of office of the members of the Election Commission shall be until the holding of next Annual General Body.
(iii) A member of Election Commission shall be ineligible to stand for election during his term of office.
(iv) A member of the election commission may be removed by the Executive Committee by a vote of two third, of the members represented on the Executive Committee.
(v) The Election Commission shall be responsible for preparing electoral rolls, for conducting, organizing and supervising the annual general Election. It shall also be responsible for notifying and holding the elections of office bearers in accordance with these Articles within 24 hours of the announcement of the result of the Executive Committee elections.
(vi) It shall be the duty of all Executive authorities of the Society to assist the Election Commission in the discharge of its functions.
(vii) All decisions of the Election Commission shall be taken by majority vote. However, in case of a tie, the Chairman shall have the casting vote except otherwise provided.
(viii) In the event of a tie amongst two or more candidates in any Election for any post, the winner shall be determined on the basis of lots drawn by the Chairman of the Election Commission.
57-B Any candidate aggrieved by any decision of the Election Commission or calling into question the fairness or validity of any election in which he is a candidate, may, within seven days of the announcement of the decision of result of the Election make a petition to the Chairman of the Election Commission, who shall refer the matter to the Arbitration Committee nominated by the General Council.
58. With a view to safeguard the interests of the members the Executive Committee may establish at such places as considered necessary, Ad-Hoc Regional Committees to deal with the specific problems of the members from the region. These Ad-Hoc Regional Committees shall have such powers and duties as may be delegated to them by the Executive Committee from time to time and within the limits of such powers they shall deal with and endeavor to solve the problems faced by the members including the carrying on, at the written request of the Member concerned, of negotiations with the representative organizations of the employees of the member in respect of problems and disputes that may arise from time to time.
59. The Executive Committee may in its discretion authorize and empower one or more of its officials to sell, purchase, transfer, endorse, negotiate or otherwise deal on behalf of the Society with securities of the Central and Provincial Government, and any other assets or properties, and also to negotiate, conclude and enter into agreements on matters relating to and in furtherance of the objectives of the Society.
60. The Secretary General shall head the Secretariat of the Society and shall be responsible for organizing, supervising and managing the administrative affairs pertaining to the functioning of the Society, in relation to the member publications, advertising agencies and any other official or public bodies concerned with the business of the Society. He shall, so far as the day to day functioning of the Society is concerned, discharge such acts, duties and responsibilities that may be generally deemed to be apart of the day to day functioning of the Society, and also exercise such other specific and special authority in regard to various matters that may be specifically delegated to him by the Executive Committee or the General Council even through they may otherwise, under the Articles of Association, be vested in the Executive Committee or the General Council. The powers conferred by the Article shall be in addition to any other powers conferred elsewhere in these Articles.
60-A. The Finance Secretary shall be responsible for all the funds of the Society entrusted to him. He shall act under the general directions of the Executive Committee and unless otherwise directed all cheques on the Society's banking account shall be signed by the Finance Secretary or in his absence by the President and counter-signed by the Secretary General.
61. The accounts of the Society shall be made upto the 31st day of December in each year and shall be audited by an Auditor elected by the Members of the Society for that purpose at such fees as may be determined at the Annual General Meeting.
62. Any alteration in or addition to the Constitution and these Articles must be approved by a resolution at any Extra-Ordinary General Meeting of the Council provided that due notice has been given in the agenda for that meeting; any such resolution must be passed by a majority of not less than three-fourths of the members represented at the meeting.
Provided however that any amended affecting rights, privileges and interests of any category of members as stipulated in articles relating to membership, composition of Executive Committee and election etc. shall not be effective unless supported by at least a simple majority of the members of such category present and voting.
63. Notwithstanding any irregularity in the election or composition of the Executive Committee, all powers exercised and functions performed under the Articles by any person declared to have been elected at any Annual General Meeting held between March 1976 and April 1982,shall be deemed to have been validity exercised and performed and persons declared to have been elected to the Executive Committee at any Annual General Meeting held up till 31st March, 1982 shall, unless their term of office has already expired, continue to hold such office until the holding of the Annual General Meeting in March 1983. However, upon the holding of the Anual General Meeting in March 1983 not withstanding anything contained in these Articles all office bearers and Executive Committee members shall cease to hold office and election to all 13 seats of the Executive Committee shall be held at the said meeting in accordance with the Articles then in force and thereafter office bearers shall be elected in accordance with the Articles.
Notwithstanding any thing contained herein, the Executive Committee for the time being in force as constituted prior to the passing amendments contained in Resolution on 27th May, 1991, shall copt five members besides inducting permanent members to the Executive Committee who shall held office until holding of AGM in the year 1992, at which time the election for 21 seats shall be held.
That not withstanding anything contained in the articles of Association, the members of the PNPO with the status they held in their outgoing organization would be members of the APNS in good standing with effect from 15th October, 1996 and would enjoy the rights and duties as enjoyed by the existing members of the Society.
That not withstanding anything contained in the Articles of the Association the members of the Executive Committee of the PNPO shall be members of the Executive Committee of the APNS, superseding the provisions of the Articles till the holding of the Annual General Council held on March, 1998 and the office bearers elected on 15th October, 1996 will hold office till Annual General Council Meeting to be held in march, 1998 with all powers and functions performed under the Articles and shall be deemed to have been validly elected and exercise and perform, the powers enshrined in the Articles of Association. The Article 27 (ii) (3), (4) shall remain suspended till the holding of Annual General Council in March, 1998.
Certified that the above rules and regulation contained in the Articles of the Association and the "Code of Standards" of the Society and Schedule A annexed, are true and correct and have been approved by the Society.
President Senior Vice President Secretary General
Signature: ..
Name: .. ..
Address: .. . ..
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