Exactly a month after the fatal Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane crash in Model Colony, Karachi, the preliminary investigation report was presented to Prime Minister Imran Khan today. Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan met the prime minister and briefed him on the investigation into the incident.
The crash claimed 97 lives and two survivors and according to Geo News, the report details that the air traffic control and the cockpit crew of the plane were responsible for the crash but it also says that the deterrents in place by PIA and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) were not enough to avoid the plane crash and they also share equal responsibility of the crash.
The report has also stated that investigation into any technical failure is still on-going but no technical issues have been determined yet. It is pertinent to mention here that this is a preliminary one and the detailed report will take upto six months or a year.
Following the crash, the prime minister had ordered a probe into the incident to determine why the plane had crashed and Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan had said that he would present the report to the national assembly today (June 22nd).
According to arecording of a Mayday call, the pilot told controllers the aircraft had lost power when he tried to land for the second time.
The aircraft had tried to land earlier but went around for a second attempt. According to the recording, an air traffic controller told the pilot that he might be off-course. The pilot told him that he had lost the engines. The pilot had been cleared to use any runway but called, “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday,” and the plane crashed minutes later.
After the aircraft reportedly called off an earlier attempt to land and went around for a second attempt, a controller radioed the pilot of flight 8303 that he appeared to be turning left, suggesting he was off-course.
The pilot replied, “We are returning back, sir, we have lost engines,” and the controller cleared the plane to land on either of Karachi airport’s two West-Southwest-facing runways.
Meanwhile, the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) have been been decoded in France and the inquiry committee has received a report.
Mango season has officially begun and some lucky fellows have already started receiving their mango paitis straight from the farms.
Huda Kattan’s sister Mona Kattan received her box of mangoes from Bilawal House Karachi, with compliments from President Asif Ali Zardari and his children Bakhtawar, Aseefa and Bilawal. Mona shared her excitement of receiving the boxes of mangoes on her social media.
According to the greeting card, the mangoes are grown naturally at farms in Tando Allahyar.
Bakhtawar is reportedly good friends with the Kattan sisters.
Bakhtawar and Huda
Huda is an Iraqi-American makeup artist, beauty blogger, and entrepreneur. She is the founder of the cosmetics line Huda Beauty. According to Forbes, her net worth is $610M.
A teenager accidentally shot himself while recording a TikTok video in Karachi’s Sikandarabad on Sunday.
As per reports, the deceased, who was 17 years old, was reportedly filming himself while holding his father’s pistol when he accidentally pulled the trigger, killing himself.
According to the Sachal police, the family declined a post-mortem. After the completion of medico-legal formalities, the body was handed over to the family. The police said that the pistol was licensed and belonged to the boy’s father.
Esra Bilgiç, who plays the fearless Halima Sultan in the super hit Turkish series, Diriliş: Ertuğrul, says that she would love to visit Pakistan and feature the country in her documentary project.
In an interview with Hello Magazine Pakistan, Esra, who is currently studying Law, shared that she has written a documentary project about “how nature responds to us in all circumstances.”
“The destroyed agricultural areas, forests ruined by urbanization and the habitats of animals which could return to their former fertile states in such a short time. No matter how much damage we do to nature, it hugs us every time we go to it,” said Esra.
She continued: “I intend to reach villages and mountainous areas that have difficulties, due to financial deficiencies and access to natural resources. I want to help the local people, to listen and photograph their problems, and to make everyone aware. In the quarantine period with the team in Turkey, we have identified a few places. I want to complete all our preparations — and after a few photography classes— get to work.”
The actor then expressed her desire to visit Pakistan for her project.
“I hope that my first visit to Pakistan will take place as part of this documentary project,” she said. “I want to photograph the geographical topography, the vegetation and the exotic sites. I love the mountainous areas of the Babusar Kaghan Valley; the views overlooking the Valley of Leepa in Azad Kashmir; the camp plan in Concordia and the amazing Deosai plateau.”
Esra added: “In fact, the Kashmir region is one of the places I am most curious about and want to travel to and determine a few places for the documentary project.”
Meanwhile, talking about the success of the series in Pakistan, Esra said she cannot thank the Pakistani audience enough for their love and that the success has motivated her to excel more.
“To know that the character to whom I gave life as an actor, embraced like this, is the biggest reward I could get. Literally it is like a prize,” exclaimed the actor.
On why Ertuğrul resonated so well with the Pakistani audience, Esra said: “The fact that a movie series or music finds a response in people living in other cultures proves that emotions are universal. The main theme of the Ertuğrul was not to remain silent in the face of injustice, to stand by the oppressed and to fight for justice.”
“I believe that the Pakistani people’s love for Ertuğrul has led them to embrace our similarities, especially in the ways we express emotion.”
Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a video meeting with renowned writers across the country, urged them to promote family values and national identity through their writings and dramas. Writers who were part of the meeting included Hasina Moin, Amjad Islam Amjad, Bee Gul, Fasih Bari Khan, Zafar Meraj, Zanzbeel Asim Shah, Amna Mufti, Saima Ikram Chaudhry and Jahanzeb Qamar.
According to APP, the prime minister assured the government’s support for the promotion of national culture and identity. In the meeting, PM Khan discussed the importance of highlighting national culture and identity and said that the education and training of the youth had been jeopardized by modern communication tools, internet, easy access to objectionable content and onslaught of alien culture and traditions.
The PM asserted that foreign content – such a Bollywood – is putting our history, culture and social values in danger and reducing the youth’s knowledge about Islamic personalities, sagas and national history.
PM Imran also said that the government was aiming to revamp and digitalise Pakistan Television (PTV) and revive its previous glory.
Fasih Bari Khan, and other writers present on the occasion, speaking to a private media outlet, said that PM Khan had highlighted that the whole society was in a state of moral decay and that the country was leading in child pornography. PM Khan attributed rising divorce rates to the moral degradation of society and the influence of Western cultures. He expressed his distress at the rising divorce cases in society and spoke at length on the topic. He urged playwrights to help the new generation in moral training and character building.
PM Khan also expressed his desire for an Ertuğrul -type drama to be produced in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, when Bee Gul disagreed with PM Khan’s point of view and said that while divorce should be discouraged, it should not be stigmatised as it puts stress on the woman, her mic was switched off and PM Khan said that divorce has a negative effect on children and the family structure.
The writers hoped that this meeting would bear fruit and would bring positive changes, because more often than not, they are pressurised into writing a certain type of story by private channels.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Lt Gen (Retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa were also part of the meeting.
2) وزیر اعظم نے قومی تہذیب و تمدن اور پاکستانیت کو اجاگر کرنے کی اہمیت پر زور دیتے ہوئے کہا کہ ماڈرن ذرائع ابلاغ ، انٹرنیٹ پرہر قسم کے مواد خصوصاً قابل اعتراض کی آسان دستیابی اور مغربی طور طریقوں اور بیرونی کلچر کی یلغار سے ہماری اقدار اور –
4)- بھی برائے نام اور محدود ہوتی جا رہی ہیں۔ وزیر اعظم نے کہا کہ نئی نسل کو قومی تشخص سے روشناس کرانے ، معاشرتی اقدار اور پاکستانیت کے فروغ کے لئے ضروری ہے کہ اس حوالے سے فوری طور پر اقدامات اٹھائے جائیں۔
6) وزیر اعظم نے کہا کہ قومی تہذیب و تمدن اور پاکستانیت کے فروغ کے حوالے سے کوششوں کی حکومتی سطح پر بھرپور پذیرائی کی جائے گی۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ حکومت پاکستان ٹیلی ویژن کی اصلاح پر خصوصی توجہ دے رہی ہے تاکہ پی ٹی وی قومی تشخص اجاگر کرنے میں اپنا کردار ماضی کی طرح ادا کر سکے۔
Pakistani women have time and again proven that despite the country’s patriarchal setup, they can always be counted on to make a mark. Malala Yousafzai, the country’s second and the world’s youngest Nobel laureate, is continuing the legacy of Pakistan’s iconic women.
Malala graduated from Oxford University earlier this week. “Hard to express my joy and gratitude right now as I completed my philosophy, politics and economics degree at Oxford. I don’t know what’s ahead. For now, it will be Netflix, reading and sleep,” she tweeted.
Hard to express my joy and gratitude right now as I completed my Philosophy, Politics and Economics degree at Oxford. I don’t know what’s ahead. For now, it will be Netflix, reading and sleep. 😴 pic.twitter.com/AUxN55cUAf
For someone so young, Malala has achieved what most of us cannot even imagine in our lifetimes. But it did not come easy; in fact, it was at a great personal cost. In 2009, Malala started writing a diary for BBC Urdu under the pen name ‘Gul Makai’. Swat Valley was under Taliban rule at the time. In one of the entries, she wrote, “I am sad watching my uniform, school bag and geometry box. I felt hurt on opening my wardrobe and seeing my uniform, school bag and geometry box. Boys’ schools are opening tomorrow. But the Taliban have banned girls’ education.”
Malala and her family received multiple threats from the Taliban even after their rule ended in Swat.
She was shot by the Taliban in October 2012 when she was on her way home from school in Swat. The Taliban tried to assassinate her because she had become an ambassador for girls’ education. The assassination attempt left her in a critical condition when she was taken to a hospital in Rawalpindi. She was later transferred to a hospital in the United Kingdom (UK).
Malala went on to become a global icon. From writing a diary under a pseudonym at an incredibly young age to surviving a brutal assassination attempt, her bravery makes one wonder about the determination and grit this young woman has shown over the years. Despite her success, Malala remains down to earth and humble. One can see that there is no pretense.
After her graduation, many are wondering what role she would take on in the future. It is for Malala to decide what is next but we can say with certainty that her future will not be anything ordinary. For an extraordinary woman like Malala, an ordinary job would obviously not do. She will always be a global ambassador for girls’ education and may well continue her work since it is a huge task indeed. Some speculate whether she will enter politics at some stage. Whatever she decides, we know she will continue to make Pakistan proud of her work.
Despite stepping away from the public eye to focus on his spiritual journey, Hamza Ali Abbasi continues to attract attention from his countless fans from across the world.
In a recent Twitter interaction, when a follower asked Hamza if he doing good, the actor responded, “I am the happiest I have ever been Alhamdulillah.”
Nops. I m the happiest i have ever been Alhamdulillah
While Hamza has mainly been using his platform to impart religious knowledge, his wife Naimal Khawar has been sharing snippets of their life in America. The couple has reported set up base in Texas, where Hamza is studying at the Ghamidi Center of Islamic Learning.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA_hbSsjM6_/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_VjW-3DcoB/
Meanwhile, Hamza also requested those who he may have hurt by his words or actions to forgive him.
Been wanting to do this for a while so here goes: I want to use this platform whr my voice reaches many to apologise to anyone & everyone who i have ever hurt by my words or actions in my past. Please i beg u to forgive me…. I AM SORRY….Please… FORGIVE ME❤️
Late last year, Hamza had announced that he was quitting acting to focus on his spiritual journey.
“I had this divine revelation some time back, that all that I am doing in this world will end the moment I die,” Hamza said in a video message, adding that death is inevitable.
“All these trophies, all these accolades will not bring me any good on the day of judgment when I meet my Maker. I have decided that I want to leave everything that might be a hurdle when it comes to making my matters easier on the day of Judgment.”
Though Hamza will be quitting acting, he shared that he will still continue to make videos and use his voice and popularity to spread the message of Islam and inspire others to undertake this spiritual journey.
Veteran actor Bushra Ansari also shared a video of herself talking to Alamgir to clear the air and elucidate that he is still alive.
Talking to Alamgir, Ansari jokes, “You are 100-years-old and have not passed away. You have survived till now so you don’t have any right to die.”
In response, Alamgir laughs and says: “I will not die before 200.”
“I was so scared [when I heard the rumour]. Mujhe aadat hogayi hai teri. I have told everyone to stop spreading such nonsensical stuff,” continued Bushra, adding, “We’re already receiving such bad news and I would never want to hear something like this. You are so brave and fighting against your illness for so long. I love you. Stay safe.”
For the unacquainted, Alamgir inherited the polycystic kidney disease (PKD) from his mother.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBn6XKup26F/
Alamgir Haq is one of Pakistan’s most notable singers and one of the pioneers of pop music in Pakistan. He is popularly known as ‘Babae Pop‘ which translates to ‘King of Pop’. His style of singing is inspired by playback singer Ahmed Rushdi and Elvis Presley. Alamgir received the Pride of Performance Award in 2013 by the President of Pakistan.
“Rest in peace Khalid Sherdil. You are loved beyond measure, and we will miss you terribly.”
They say things happen for a reason. There wasn’t a reason why on Friday, May 22, I felt the need to check if Khalid had reached Karachi. Strange that my phone buzzed in my hand the exact moment I wanted to check his whereabouts. I had received a text message from a friend that something was not quite right; Khalid’s plane had bumped on the runaway a few times and taken off again. In those few moments, I knew something was wrong.
Moments later, flight PK-8303 crashed. My first thought: this is not happening. The plane was too close to the runway. Khalid will be okay. He had to be okay. You can’t joke with a person the night before their flight and not have them be alright. It didn’t work that way.
Khalid at Altit Fort in Hunza in October 2019.
The day worked its way, getting ready to deliver the knockout punch that Khalid was gone. People gathered, wept and stayed with us. I remember the quiet, the horrid gut-wrenching silence when people run out of words.
Strangely no one from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) ever came. Everyone who was anyone in the bureaucratic machinery reached out to help us, to somehow get Khalid’s body back to us. For days we didn’t even know if there was a body. Would we get one back? If we did, would it be Khalid’s? Worst still, what if someone had mistakenly claimed his body? These questions, nauseatingly real and unimaginable, simultaneously ate through my family.
“Khalid was all around us and yet I knew that the Almighty had played His final hand and he was gone. We were awash with grief, the kind that gnaws inside bones and never leaves.”
For days we didn’t have Khalid’s body and yet we had so much of him around us. I sat every day in his room, looking at the feature stone wall which he had put up with so much love. He had sent photos of the tiles to everyone in the family to see if we approved. Outside his giant, floor to ceiling window lay the sprawling lawn where he played endless hours of soccer with my children. If it wasn’t soccer, it would be chess or games that Khalid invented with their own hilarious rules. Even the house cat had some role to play in his playtime with the children. I was waiting for the moment that Khalid would walk in, chapstick in hand and start some silly game.
Khalid was in a hurry to get someplace all the time. He had boundless energy and the soul of an adventurer. He loved his bold and beautiful belts, his colourful sunglasses and chocolate. I’ve never met a kinder soul than his, his smile always saying more than his words. Khalid was kind, magnanimous, spirited and gentle beyond belief. He helped others without ever thinking about it. Khalid even helped me find a new home for my dog because he knew I just couldn’t give it away to anybody. You’d never think a man in that dark suit would know how to love so much.
Khalid at Khunjerab National Park in October 2019.
Khalid was all around us and yet I knew that the Almighty had played His final hand and he was gone. We were awash with grief, the kind that gnaws inside bones and never leaves.
Grief, as it so happens, at least according to the Kubler-Ross Cycle, has five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Thanks to PIA, which incidentally offered no assistance to locate Khalid’s body or help in the least in any humane way, my husband’s grief cycle jumped straight to acceptance. There was no room for denial or anger as he got down to the business of getting his brother home.
“I can only hope for the best but somehow I’m reminded of a famous quote at the conclusion of The Shawshank Redemption, where Andy Dufresne says to his friend, ‘Remember, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.’”
It wasn’t easy. Four days later, Khalid’s DNA matched and he was on his way home. PIA was still absent, behaving like a child who throws away a toy after it’s broken.
As an on-again-off-again writer, I like to get to the bottom of things. I wanted to distill all the information in my wrecked brain and re-create what happened that day. PIA didn’t even bother to have a press briefing as to what may have happened to flight PK-8303. A grieving mind will settle for any information that provides closure. I watched video after video on YouTube to make sense of what might have happened. And still, silence from the airline that could make sense of it all.
Adventurous, determined and committed to helping humanity.
They say the smallest coffins are the heaviest. After receiving Khalid’s coffin draped in our national flag, it could not have been heavier. Khalid loved wearing the Pakistani national flag lapel pin on his suit collar, and as fate would have it, he was buried with our flag. Khalid was a true patriot and he loved his country. His friends, fellow Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) officers and family helped bring him home. An airline bearing our national flag perished with 97 souls on board and all the PIA could offer was a compensation cheque after everything was done. Keep your money PIA; don’t use it as a means to absolve yourself of guilt.
As days pass by, my friends and family offer words of comfort. I can only hope for the best but somehow I’m reminded of a famous quote at the conclusion of The Shawshank Redemption, where Andy Dufresne says to his friend, “Remember, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” Something pure and good died on flight PK-8303.
Rest in peace Khalid Sherdil. You are loved beyond measure, and we will miss you terribly.
