If you driving shahrah-e-Faisal you will see a bus lane, now there is new rule, if you mistakenly found on that lane either traffic police person wlll stop you of he does not bother, if he stops you he will charge you of "breaking lanes" fee for this is Rs:100/= and if you argue with him he will show you a charge says, "driving in wrong lane" fee for this is 50/=.
This is my second incidence that I found out what I have been doing for past 5 years is now wrong and without warning I will be penalized according to samajh and know how of traffic counstable about the rule.
God Bless police and people of this country.
Monday, August 22, 2005
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
The flying circus
I am pasting an article by Shakir Hussain published in TheNews on 10th August 2005
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As a child I remember being taken to the Lucky Irani Circus, and being entertained by their performers, the elephant, and the lions. As the years have gone by, the famous Lucky Irani Circus is no longer what it used to be, and like everything else in Pakistan, the old is being replaced by the new with no attempts being made to preserve our heritage. In fact, as fellow columnist and cousin, Khusro Mumtaz, pointed out in these pages on Monday, our government officials are at the forefront of destroying what we've grown to cherish. Punjab home secretary Waseem Afzal has not been reprimanded or punished for damaging one of the Muslim world's greatest mosques when it was hijacked for his daughters' wedding; nor has he had the self-respect to tender his resignation for violating the rules and laws of the land.
But there is one man who is on a mission to keep the tradition and spirit of the Lucky Irani Circus alive, and it is our very own Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. Throughout his tenure he has stuck to the traditions of Pakistani governance and has broken from his corporate traditions at Citibank, where he trained and rose through the ranks. PM Aziz's flying circus can at any point decide to take off to the capitals of the world with an entourage which would make most nouveau riche African Americans green with envy. A special plane from PIA is used to ferry the ministers, officials of the Prime Minister's Secretariat, mandarins, businessmen and journalists to the destination of choice within 24 hours. The entourage is usually 50-strong and the composition depends on who has been a good little boy or girl.
The current Japanese trip is a bit of a mystery for a number of reasons. The first being that on Monday Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the lower house of parliament after his bill to reform the postal system was defeated in the upper house. He has called for fresh elections on Sept. 11, and the defeat is being called a huge blow to Mr Koizumi, as he staked his reputation on the Reform Bill. Now, imagine that in the midst of his battle for political survival, Mr Koizumi has an entire planeload of Pakistanis to contend with and entertain. And, boy, do these guys want to be entertained! Insider sources have told this columnist of various trips of this prime minister and many before him, where ministers have fought with each other over limousines, corner hotel rooms with views, who will sit where on the dinner table, etc. The thought of the ever-so-polite Japanese prime minister having to deal with this lot during this highly stressful time, and I want to send the poor man a case of Saki to soothe his nerves. Throw in the fact that Tuesday, Aug. 9, was the anniversary of the horrific nuclear bombing of Nagasaki, and one of the things on the agenda is Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme! A vast number of Pakistanis shudder at the thought of Islamabad having nuclear weapons, so imagine what the mild Japanese must think.
Upon hearing of the Flying Circus's departure from the Land of the Pure, I immediately sensed that PM Aziz must have set up this trip to cheer the Japanese up on the anniversary of the devastation of Nagasaki. He is, after all, a very thoughtful man, and a planeload of fellow circus colleagues is exactly what the shrink must have ordered. Curious about the size of the delegation, I decided to call up the office of the prime minister's press secretary, Javed Akhter. Since he had already left with the prime minister, I spoke to a very helpful gentleman by the name of M. Aslam. Mr Aslam informed me that he didn't have any idea how many people had gone on the junket, since that's the kind of information only the "saab" had. Hmmm. But wasn't this the office of the prime minister's press secretary? Yes, well but we aren't privy to this information. Ah, makes complete sense. He gave me the number of a certain Mr Akram Shaeedi who's a PIO. Called his offices to find out that he was out of the office and no one knew when he'd be back. Asked his staff members about the size of the delegation and the number of people, and no one seemed to know. One sweet staffer told me, "Sir yeh to khufia baat hai, hum jaison ko to nahein batate" (Sir, this is classified information, which they don't share with the likes of us). Given the fact that a whole plane went, we can rest assured that the taxpayers' money was utilised to the maximum!
PM Aziz's governance skills and sensitivity have to be given kudos, though. The country is passing through one of the most tense political periods since 9/11, with the local body elections round the corner, allegations and counter-allegations flying between the religious parties and the government, floods are ripping through the country, the operations against foreign madrassah students is in full swing. Yet the prime minister has given the gift of the circus to the Japanese and the Chinese through Pakistan's brand new "Look East" strategy! For he's a jolly good fellow...
The writer is an entrepreneur and business consultant.
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As a child I remember being taken to the Lucky Irani Circus, and being entertained by their performers, the elephant, and the lions. As the years have gone by, the famous Lucky Irani Circus is no longer what it used to be, and like everything else in Pakistan, the old is being replaced by the new with no attempts being made to preserve our heritage. In fact, as fellow columnist and cousin, Khusro Mumtaz, pointed out in these pages on Monday, our government officials are at the forefront of destroying what we've grown to cherish. Punjab home secretary Waseem Afzal has not been reprimanded or punished for damaging one of the Muslim world's greatest mosques when it was hijacked for his daughters' wedding; nor has he had the self-respect to tender his resignation for violating the rules and laws of the land.
But there is one man who is on a mission to keep the tradition and spirit of the Lucky Irani Circus alive, and it is our very own Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. Throughout his tenure he has stuck to the traditions of Pakistani governance and has broken from his corporate traditions at Citibank, where he trained and rose through the ranks. PM Aziz's flying circus can at any point decide to take off to the capitals of the world with an entourage which would make most nouveau riche African Americans green with envy. A special plane from PIA is used to ferry the ministers, officials of the Prime Minister's Secretariat, mandarins, businessmen and journalists to the destination of choice within 24 hours. The entourage is usually 50-strong and the composition depends on who has been a good little boy or girl.
The current Japanese trip is a bit of a mystery for a number of reasons. The first being that on Monday Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the lower house of parliament after his bill to reform the postal system was defeated in the upper house. He has called for fresh elections on Sept. 11, and the defeat is being called a huge blow to Mr Koizumi, as he staked his reputation on the Reform Bill. Now, imagine that in the midst of his battle for political survival, Mr Koizumi has an entire planeload of Pakistanis to contend with and entertain. And, boy, do these guys want to be entertained! Insider sources have told this columnist of various trips of this prime minister and many before him, where ministers have fought with each other over limousines, corner hotel rooms with views, who will sit where on the dinner table, etc. The thought of the ever-so-polite Japanese prime minister having to deal with this lot during this highly stressful time, and I want to send the poor man a case of Saki to soothe his nerves. Throw in the fact that Tuesday, Aug. 9, was the anniversary of the horrific nuclear bombing of Nagasaki, and one of the things on the agenda is Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme! A vast number of Pakistanis shudder at the thought of Islamabad having nuclear weapons, so imagine what the mild Japanese must think.
Upon hearing of the Flying Circus's departure from the Land of the Pure, I immediately sensed that PM Aziz must have set up this trip to cheer the Japanese up on the anniversary of the devastation of Nagasaki. He is, after all, a very thoughtful man, and a planeload of fellow circus colleagues is exactly what the shrink must have ordered. Curious about the size of the delegation, I decided to call up the office of the prime minister's press secretary, Javed Akhter. Since he had already left with the prime minister, I spoke to a very helpful gentleman by the name of M. Aslam. Mr Aslam informed me that he didn't have any idea how many people had gone on the junket, since that's the kind of information only the "saab" had. Hmmm. But wasn't this the office of the prime minister's press secretary? Yes, well but we aren't privy to this information. Ah, makes complete sense. He gave me the number of a certain Mr Akram Shaeedi who's a PIO. Called his offices to find out that he was out of the office and no one knew when he'd be back. Asked his staff members about the size of the delegation and the number of people, and no one seemed to know. One sweet staffer told me, "Sir yeh to khufia baat hai, hum jaison ko to nahein batate" (Sir, this is classified information, which they don't share with the likes of us). Given the fact that a whole plane went, we can rest assured that the taxpayers' money was utilised to the maximum!
PM Aziz's governance skills and sensitivity have to be given kudos, though. The country is passing through one of the most tense political periods since 9/11, with the local body elections round the corner, allegations and counter-allegations flying between the religious parties and the government, floods are ripping through the country, the operations against foreign madrassah students is in full swing. Yet the prime minister has given the gift of the circus to the Japanese and the Chinese through Pakistan's brand new "Look East" strategy! For he's a jolly good fellow...
The writer is an entrepreneur and business consultant.
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