Electronic media losing charm

Dr Mahip Singh said to encourage this changing trend, it was mandatory to encourage publishing of specialised magazines, especially those with short stories.

On the Indo-Pak relations and the contribution of writers in easing tension, he said every time India took a step to ease the situation, Pakistan went a step backward. He said when the Indian writers arranged a candle march on the Wagah border, they failed to get an appropriate response from the opposite side. It seemed the Pakistani leadership was totally against encourging mutual relationship, he added.

The recently-conducted nuclear explosions by both the countries, he said, had further strained relations. He added that the Vajpayee government had conducted these explosions only to strengthen itself politically and the country had gained nothing.

When his attention was drawn toward the alleged bungling in awards to writers by the Department of Languages in the recent past, he said the state advisory board had to take some concrete steps to check political interference in the announcement of awards.