Aviation safety standards and best practices
In order to ensure the safety of a flight from Islamabad to Multan, the PIA management offered a black goat as a sacrifice. Daily Dunya (19 Dec 2016) reported that after this sacrifice, the flight was cleared to take off.
A most reassuring clarification?
A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry stated that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar did not meet the delegation from the Difa-e-Pakistan Council by his own wish. Daily Dunya (19 Dec 2016) quoted the official as saying that this meeting with the minister took place because the leader of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council wished for it.
“Say no to Gullu’s way”
Daily Dunya (19 Dec 2016) reported that PPP South Punjab leader Shaukat Mahmood Basra responded to Rana Sanaullah’s statement against Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Basra was quoted as saying that Rana Sanaullah was following in the footsteps of Gullu Butt and that he ought to remember how Gullu pretended to faint after just two slaps when in custody.
Lady Daku!
Daily Jang (19 Dec 2016) stated that a female bandit (Lady Daku) and her accomplices broke into a house in Lahore’s Nishtar Colony area, subdued the inhabitants and made away with jewelry, cash and other valuables worth hundreds of thousands of rupees.
Rana Sanaullah and his question-marks
Daily Jang (19 Dec 2016) reported that provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah refused to acknowledge the ASWJ as a banned organisation, saying that there is a question mark over which organisations are banned and which are not.
Shahbaz Speed
Daily Jang (19 Dec 2016) reported that Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, hosting a Chinese official delegation, said that the Communist Party of China and the PML-N enjoyed excellent relations. On this occasion Zheng Xiaosong, the Vice-minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, was quoted by the report as saying that he was greatly impressed by Shahbaz Sharif’s work during his visit to China. He said that the Chinese people are known for being hardworking and tireless, but that Shahbaz Sharif was even more so than them. He said that in China, the Chief Minister’s speed for getting work completed was known as “Punjab Speed” but that this was actually “Shahbaz Speed”.
Aspiring bureaucrats in Pakistan…
According to Daily Dunya (21 Dec 2016), the Federal Public Service Commission released the depressing reports of its examiners from the CSS exams. A candidate for the department of forestry and agriculture filled his answer booklet by copying out the question repeatedly for many pages. In the examination for applied mathematics, 55 out of 105 candidates achieved zero marks. Some candidates responded in Urdu to questions posed in a Persian exam, while many candidates for chemistry and physics exams wrote out irrelevant essays and stories in response to questions.
“Those aren’t U-turns, they’re part of the plan!”
Daily Jang (22 Dec 2016) quoted PTI chief Imran Khan as saying that he does not execute “U-turns”, and that all the steps he takes are part of a strategy for achieving his goals. He said that it would be a U-turn if he ran a movement against corruption and then engaged in corruption himself.
Uncovering yet another conspiracy?
Actor Mustafa Qureshi was quoted by Daily Express (24 Dec 2016) as saying that the Indian lobby again became active to ensure that Indian films were screened in Pakistan, and that they had succeeded in pressurising cinema owners to that end. He went on to say that India loses no opportunity for showing enmity towards Pakistan, and that if at this stage, cinema owners fail to stand with the Pakistani film industry, it would be a conspiracy (saazish).
Saad Rafique’s lesson plan for Bilawal…
PML-N leader and Minister for Railways Saad Rafique was quoted by Daily Express (24 Dec 2016) as saying that he welcomes PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari back to the country, and hopes that he could teach Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to be civilised (tehzeeb sikhani chahiye).