The SAMAA LIVE Festival continues to bring the message of Peace, Unity and Hope to the people of Pakistan.

Lahore, October 10- SAMAA TV, one of Pakistan's leading Urdu news channels inaugurated the SAMAA Festival with the message of celebrating life. The event took off with a grand opening by the Chief Guest Mr. Salman Taseer, Governor of Punjab at the Fortress Stadium.

The SAMAA LIVE Festival is a two-day event being launched by SAMAA TV under the banner of its Corporate Social Responsibility Program through which SAMAA TV is reaching out to all segments of society and educating them on issues related to Health, Education, Environment and the Social issues prevailing in Pakistan. More than 400,000 attendees are expected to visit the festival, which is being launched under the theme of "Celebrating Life".

The Festival has different pavilions under the theme of Health, Education and Environment, where each pavilion will during the next two days not only provide free information on the subject but also give the public different opportunities to learn more about things of their interest. Special entertainment by leading Pakistani bands, talent hunt for new anchors and meeting the prominent hosts of SAMAA TV's flagship programs will also be among the highlights.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Mr. Salman Taseer acknowledged the difficult times, which Pakistan was facing from the socio-political as well as the financial aspects and its impact on the lives of the people of Pakistan. "Every Pakistani wants to see its country progress and contribute positively to its development. Our people have the spirit, faith and courage to keep moving on and working hard for success in life. However, every person needs motivation and also a reminder that there is a united force which supports the vision of our great Founder, Mr. Mohammad AliMohammad Ali Jinnah; a progressive Pakistan. SAMAA has marked that spirit once again by launching the SAMAA LIVE Festival for the common public and share its own feel of hope for our nation and the empowerment of our people"

Mr. Salam Taseer appreciated SAMAA TV for being the only media channel in Pakistan, which has shown its social commitment by implementing initiatives that have a positive impact on the nation. He also commended SAMAA TV for taking a lead in the media industry and playing a responsible role in creating awareness on issues, which have a vast impact on the quality of life for the individual citizen of Pakistan. "These kinds of events bring the nation together", he said.

The governor called upon businessmen community to keep looking forward, and held out the assurance that all possible help would be extended to the business community. He expressed the hope that the event would also help promote Lahore and its people as a peaceful and event-friendly city and encouraged SAMAA to take the message of the festival to all cities of Pakistan.

Concluding his speech, he encouraged other media entities to follow SAMAA TV's vision and assured that the Government would support such public-private partnerships to achieve the goal of a stronger Pakistan.

Mr. Jonathan Mark, Director Sales, SAMAA TV shared a few words on the objectives of SAMAA LIVE and said that "The SAMAA Festival is one of its kind, as in today's world, this event is a tribute to the talent, enthusiasm and creativity of our people and the success of the event is a real credit to them. The people of the country have a key part to play in our economy, the environment and our everyday lives". Mr. Mark expressed his profound gratitude to the various organizations, who have come forward and joined hands for this noble cause and shared that the festival theme, "Celebrate Life" would continue to live on and will also planned for other main cities of Pakistan.

The SAMAA Festival has a participation of different companies across the board -from national to multinational, government to non-government organizations, banks and financial institutions, telecom and handset providers, cable and ISPs etc. who through this platform are able to showcase their latest technologies, products and services within the area that would help the common man in improving the quality of life. The event has also helped position Corporate Social Responsibility as part of a responsibility for all stakeholders and through this platform provided many organizations the opportunity to show their solidarity with this noble campaign. The SAMAA Festival will continue till 11th October 2009 and the entry is free for families.

SAMAA TV is one of Pakistan's leading private satellite television channels, which takes pride in its fair, factual and independent news coverage through its on-the-hour bulletins, breaking stories, incisive political analysis and current affairs programs. The channel is the first media channel is Pakistan to have established a well-integrated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program as part of it business activities. SAMAA TV's CSR program carries various initiatives within health, education, environment and outreach programs focusing on improving the socio-economic situation of Pakistan.

The channel has also made a niche for itself through its programs on women and youth issues besides infotainment and sports. SAMAA TV, launched in December 2007 has network of district correspondents and five (5) bureaus across Pakistan along with international stringers in the Middle East, Europe and North America.