M WAQAR.....
"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary.Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."
--Albert Einstein !!!
NEWS,ARTICLES,EDITORIALS,MUSIC... Ze chi pe mayeen yum da agha pukhtunistan de.....(Liberal,Progressive,Secular World.)''Secularism is not against religion; it is the message of humanity.''
تل ده وی پثتونستآن
America’s Federal Aviation Administration has downgraded Pakistan’s safety rating to category 2. It is a serious but not unexpected blow to a country with a scandal-plagued aviation sector. The downgrade means no Pakistani airlines can establish new services to the United States or codeshare with US airlines.
The FAA has downgraded Pakistan’s safety rating from category one to category two. Photo: Getty Images
The FAA’s decision follows a fatal Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) crash in Karachi in May. More recently, up to one-third of Pakistan’s commercial pilots were discovered to be holding “dubious” licenses.
Another blow to PIA and Pakistan’s aviation sector
In early July, Europe’s aviation safety regulator, EASA, suspended PIA’s authorization to fly into its member country’s airports. Last week, the United States made a similar decision, denying PIA access to the United States for six months.
Now, the FAA’s decision has effectively locked PIA out of the United States. The ruling only impacts new services to the United States, But PIA does not have any existing services across the Atlantic to the United States. According to timetable data, the airline does fly to Toronto several times a week.
As far as can be ascertained, no United States airline operates codeshare or interline agreements with PIA.
Longstanding security issues have thwarted PIA’s ambitions to access the United States. However, PIA had tentatively planned a service to begin between Islamabad and New York earlier this year. The downturn in travel derailed that. Now, safety issues are joining the list of concerns.
“Pakistan has been assigned a Category 2 rating because it does not comply with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety standards under the FAA’s International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program,” says an FAA statement.
Pakistan gets on a list no country wants to be on
The ICAO is the United Nations technical agency for aviation. It sets international standards and recommended safety practices for aircraft operations and maintenance.
A category one rating means an airline complies with ICAO’s standards and safety practices. Subject to bilateral agreements, that enables an airline to fly into the United States and codeshare with US airlines.
Like a lot of lists out of the United States, the FAA category two list is a one no country wants to be on. Pakistan joins category two countries like Bangladesh, Ghana,Malaysia, Thailand, and Venezuela.
A licensing scandal and fatal crash drive the FAA’s decision
Driving the FAA decision was a scandal involving hundreds of Pakistani pilots been issued with fake licenses and going on to operate commercial aircraft. Speaking to Pakistan’s parliament in June, the country’s aviation minister, Ghulam Sarqar Khan, said 262 out of 860 Pakistani pilots had licenses of “dubious” origins.
Key among the allegations were student pilots paying other people to sit exams for them. Following the revelations, PIA suspended 150 of its pilots. PIA said the problem was endemic across Pakistan and not restricted to PIA. However, reports indicatePIA was aware of the license problem for two years.
A PIA Airbus A320 crashed in Karachi in May, killing over 100 people. Photo: Getty Images
Casting a shadow over this was a fatal PIA crash in May. A PIA A320 flying from Karachi to Lahore crashed shortly after takeoff into a residential area. Over one hundred people died. Investigations revealpilot error caused the crash. It is unknown whether the licenses of the pilots on this flight were illegitimately issued.
With issues like these swirling around Pakistan’s aviation sector, getting the coveted FAA category one status back may be harder than losing it.
Addressing the media after attending the Aviation Committee, Parliamentary Leader of the PPP in the Senate, Senator Sherry Rehman said, “After 2 hours of solid questioning, the civil aviation authority (CAA) and minister Aviation statements are not matching. It is alarming that no one is taking responsibility for anything while PIA remains grounded. No one could tell how many licences were issued and from where. The Aviation Minister was adamant that he did the right thing. While we have been telling them that this issue needs to be resolved tactfully. Why was this done publicly?”
Commenting on the fake degree scandal, the Senator stated that, “There is no certainty if the licenses are fake or genuine as they have been making contradictory statements since day one. Today, we do not even know who is actually investigating this issue. It is shocking that no one is ready to take responsibility. For the last 15 months, we were requesting the federal government to scrutinize all of this but the federal government conveniently disregarded our concerns.
“The government is giving the wrong impression that the Minister has satisfied the committee. When in fact the entire Civil Aviation division and the Aviation Minister were not able to satisfy anyone nor could they match their statements,” she added.
She said, “After this meeting I don’t see any hope from them. I don’t think they can stabilize PIA. Who is responsible for our pilots and PIA’s downgrading? Do they have any action plan? We have not been given any clarification. Even we knew there is an issue which needs to be resolved but what did they do instead? Nothing.”
“Instead of investigating the issue first, the Minister first gave a statement and then said that we will investigate. This has led to sheer embarrassment for the country. PIA is our national flag carrier and should not have been treated in this manner. Pakistan’s image has been tarnished,” the Senator added.
Highlighting the Roosevelt Hotel issue, she said, “The explanation offered for the sale of the Roosevelt Hotel is flimsy and pointless. The claim in committee is that the sale of a profitable hotel was “only made after Covid-19 onset, in anticipation of reduced business and profits. Whereas, the task force to sell it was made in 2019.”
“After very recent public furor this notorious task force was de-notified and the relevant Aviation Ministry was actually included. No contradiction has come from any quarter about alleged interest of developers in the Trump family and non-official people and assorted advisors in the federal Government. The Aviation Minister claimed feebly that no such plan was on the anvil,” she added.
She said, “This is not the time to sell Roosevelt Hotel New York, when due to Pandemic property prices have come down significantly and it will result in a loss to Pakistan as we won’t get the right price. This hotel carries cultural significance for Pakistan and we will not let it go like this. This is not the time to sell Roosevelt Hotel New York, when due to Pandemic property prices have come down significantly and it will result in a loss to Pakistan as we won’t get the right price”.
Parliamentary Leader of the PPP in the Senate, Senator Sherry Rehman concluded by saying, “We have demanded resignation from both civil aviation officials and the Minister after this disappointing meeting. We have all done it when it was needed. The nation will respect the Minister for admitting his fault and resigning”.
چیئرمین پیپلزپارٹی بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہاہے کہ پی ٹی آئی حکومت پر کرپشن کے الزامات ہیں مگرنیب چپ ہے،وزیراعظم بھی کوئی جواب نہیں دے رہے ہیں، عمران خان کے وزیراعظم رہنے سے ملک بحران کی طرف جائیگا ،ملکی استحکام کو خطرات درپیش ہیں۔
ریاستی اداروں کو تباہ کردیا گیا سماجی ویب سائٹ ٹویٹر پر ایک پیغام میں انہوں نے کہا کہ کل پی ٹی آئی حکومت کی ناکامیوں پر پریس کانفرنس کی تھی جس میں مسئلہ کشمیر، معیشت اور کورونا وائرس کے حوالے سے حکومتی نااہلیوں کو اجاگر کیا تھا اور پی ٹی آئی حکومت کی کرپشن کو بھی بے نقاب کیا تھا، انہوں نے عمران خان کو چیلنج کیا تھا کہ وہ قومی اسمبلی یا ٹی وی پر مناظرہ کر لیں۔
دوسرا چیلنج یہ تھا کہ وہ این آئی سی وی ڈی طرز کا ایک ہسپتال بھی پورے پاکستان میں دکھا دیں، تیسرا چیلنج یہ کیا تھا کہ خیبرپختونخوا اور پنجاب میں کورونا کے فی کس ٹیسٹنگ کا موازنہ سندھ سے کروائیں مگر عمران خان نے ابھی تک میرے کسی بھی چیلنج کو قبول نہیں کیا۔
دریں اثناءمختلف شہروں میں پارٹی لیڈروں سے ویڈیو لنک کے ذریعے خطاب میں انہوں نے کہا کہ پارٹی کارکن نہ صرف کورونا سے لڑنے کیلئے سماجی فاصلہ کا خیال رکھیں بلکہ اسے حکومت کیخلاف میری تحریک شروع کرنے کے اعلان کی ریہرسل بھی سمجھیں، کارکن دنیا کو بتا دینگے کہ وباءکے دوران سیاسی تحریک کس طرح سے چلائی جاتی ہے۔
اجلاس میں راجہ پرویز اشرف، سید نیئر حسین بخاری، سید نوید قمر، رضار بانی، شیری رحمٰن، قمر زمان کائرہ اور فرحت اللہ بابر نے شرکت کی ، عمران خان کے وزیراعظم رہنے سے ملک بحران کی طرف جائیگا ، پاکستان کے استحکام کو خطرات درپیش ہیں، عمران خان اور ملک ایک ساتھ نہیں چل سکتے، سلیکٹڈ وزیراعظم کو نوشتہ دیوار پڑھ لینا چاہیے اور خود حکومت چھوڑ دینی چاہئے۔
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday has said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and his front men are protecting K-Electric corruption. In a post on the social-networking website Twitter, the PPP leader said that Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf (PTI) has no answer to any question raised about corruption in the press conference.
Imran Khan and his front men are involved in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) bus rapid transit (BRT) corruption, he alleged.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday has said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and his front men are protecting K-Electric corruption.