PIA flight delayed after pilot-steward row
Islamabad, Sep 16 : A London-bound Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight was delayed for over three hours after a physical brawl between the pilot and a steward.
According to a source, flight PK-757 Lahore-London was ready for departure at 9 p.m. on Saturday when suddenly pilot Anwaar Chaudhry asked the other crew members to make steward Awais Qureshi, whom he called a notorious smuggler, leave the aircraft, reports Dawn news.
Anwaar claimed that in the past Qureshi remained involved in incidents of smuggling during flight duty bringing bad name to the airline.
A brawl took place between the two, attracting attention of the other crew members who supported the pilot.
As a result, the source said, the flight got delayed for three hours, sparking agitation from the passengers who stood up and raised slogans against the PIA management.
The flight later departed at around midnight. The PIA spokesperson confirmed the incident on Sunday, saying an inquiry had been launched to ascertain facts.
However, he attributed the flight delay to the late arrival of another flight from Manchester.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
