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| December 15, 2007 | Saturday | Zilhaj 4, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Suicide car bomb explodes near Kabul police chief office KABUL, Dec 15 (AP): A suicide car bomb exploded in front of the office of the Kabul police chief early Saturday, the Defence Ministry spokesman said. The car contained five 107 mm rockets rigged to explode. Two of the rockets detonated in the explosion but three did not. The sound of the blast reverberated through Kabul around 8:20 a.m. Casualties were feared though police and other officials did not immediately release any details. (First Posted @ 09:30 PST, Updated @ 09:40 PST)
US will offer Palestinians 500 million dollars WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (AFP): The United States will offer the moderate Palestinian leadership more than 500 million dollars at an international donors conference opening in Paris at the weekend, a US official said Friday. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Bomb explodes outside Kabul governor's compound KABUL, Dec 15 (AFP): A bomb-filled car exploded outside the compound of the office of the governor of Kabul on Saturday, the interior ministry said, but it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Philippines Muslim factions agree to unity talks MANILA, Dec 15 (AFP): Rival Muslim factions in the Philippines have agreed to open unity talks on the urging of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's eldest son, the government said Saturday. Manila's peace negotiator said Saif Al-Islam Al-Kadhafi raised the need for unity between the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the breakaway separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) during a meeting with MILF leaders earlier this week. (Posted @ 09:10 PST)
30 Tamil Tiger rebels killed, says military COLOMBO, Dec 15 (Reuters): Sri Lankan troops killed 30 Tamil Tiger rebels in fighting in the north in which one soldier was killed, the military said Saturday. “Troops killed 30 LTTE terrorists in clashes in Vavuniya, Mannar and Jaffna on Friday,” said a military spokesman. He said one soldier was killed and seven wounded. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were not available for comment on the fighting. (Posted @ 09:15 PST)
30 Tamil Tiger rebels killed, says military COLOMBO, Dec 15 (Reuters): Sri Lankan troops killed 30 Tamil Tiger rebels in fighting in the north in which one soldier was killed, the military said Saturday. “Troops killed 30 LTTE terrorists in clashes in Vavuniya, Mannar and Jaffna on Friday,” said a military spokesman. He said one soldier was killed and seven wounded. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were not available for comment on the fighting. (Posted @ 09:15 PST)
US indicts nine people for smuggling immigrants from India HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, Dec 15 (AP): Nine people from India were indicted for smuggling undocumented immigrants into the United States through Thailand, federal prosecutors said Friday. A federal grand jury said that over the past five years the defendants -- eight Indian nationals and a naturalized U.S. citizen -- brought a dozen immigrants into the United States in a scheme that involved false passports and fabricated documents. (Posted @ 09:05 PST)
Indian doctor gets 30 years jail in U.S. PHILADELPHIA, Dec 15 (AP): A doctor from India who organised an illegal Internet pharmacy network was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison. Akhil Bansal, a doctor studying for a business degree at Temple University, ran a network that smuggled 11 million prescription pills from India and distributed them to 60,000 Americans, prosecutors said. (Posted @ 09:05 PST)
More than meets the eye By Meera Jamal
SASHAYING down the aisles, their uniforms crisp, hair impeccable and make-up perfect, air stewardesses are an essential feature of any flight. Apparently calm and in control, it is to them that we look for our in-flight needs, food, drinks and blankets, and towards them we turn for guidance in case of air turbulence or bad weather. Recently, the ranks of flight attendants have been swelled by male stewards, equally well turned-out and as comfortable serving passengers who can often be quite demanding.
In Pakistan, this is a field of limited opportunities. There are only three locally-based airlines and the largest — the state-owned Pakistan International Airlines — has a steward staff strength of approximately 2,200, 51 per cent men and 49 per cent women. The other two privately-owned airlines have only female attendants but employ relatively insignificant numbers, no more than about 160 each.
Under the cool exterior that is the professional face of this field, however, are simmering potential issues including those of gender biases, appearance and societal attitudes.
Once considered a profession for women, airlines are now hiring an increasing number of male stewards. They reason, they claim, is that women do not perform as well as men and also take too many days off once they get married.
“Men have proved themselves more efficient in terms of their work since they put in more effort and take fewer days off,” argued Zulfiqar Z Mirza, the general manager for Pakistan International Airlines’ flight services. “Women, quite apart from one year’s maternity leave, take almost years off at a stretch.” He also complained that women quit the job once they get married.”
An air stewardess contacted by Dawn, however, begged to differ. “There may be a few women who take such liberties but it’s unfair to generalise so widely,” she said in displeased tones. “Furthermore, when someone avails of such long-leave, it is important to remember that it is leave without pay.”
The argument has been made that at the beginning of the history of air travel, men were not considered as flight stewards because duties such as serving food and ensuring comfort were seen as ‘female work’, or one that women were inherently better suited to. Today, ironically, some women have had to approach the courts to maintain their jobs.
In the subcontinent, for example, stewardesses with an Indian airline hit the headlines when they filed a case against employers who had grounded them on the basis of their being overweight. While the court ruled against them, the Supreme Court of Pakistan recently ruled in favour of stewardesses who had filed a case against PIA for arbitrarily reducing the retirement age from 45 years to 35. The women who had been grounded by the airline are now back at work.
Air stewards, or cabin crew, as they are often called, go through a strict selection procedure before being allowed to take to the skies. “Their skin quality, height and weight are noted in the first interview session,” said PIA’s Zulfiqar Mirza. “We check whether they have hair on their hands and arms and if they do, they are not selected. The minimum required height is 5 feet, 6 inches for men and 5 feet, 2 inches for women, with proportionate weight.”
If selected in the first interview, the hopefuls take a grooming test. Here, men and women present themselves in a manner, both physical and behavioural, befitting the job while women’s make-up skills are also checked. Once this test is cleared, the candidates’ general knowledge is tested in written and oral tests.
The selected candidates attend an intensive three to four week training course which is organised by the airline since there are currently no institutes in Pakistan offering training courses for flight attendants. During this period, the selected candidates are trained to handle emergency situations such as evacuation and hijacking. They are also given basic training in first aid and are taught to deal with problematic passengers.
“We have dropped the required level of education from a graduate degree to an intermediate degree and the age barrier has also shifted upwards, meaning that a candidate must be a minimum of 19 years old and a maximum of 24,” said Mr Mirza.
He informed Dawn that this year, PIA had vacancies for 150 female cabin crew-members but even after two induction drives, only 70 seats were filled. “In particular, women with good qualifications opt for other jobs since there are so many career options available to them,” he pointed out.
On the face of it, the work of an airline steward holds charms for both men and women: travel, glamour and literally flying high. However, the downside lies in difficult or downright rude passengers, a situation where it is often the women who suffer more harassment.
“On domestic flights in particular, passengers ogle us and consider the stewardesses as people who are meant to entertain them, not ensure their safety,” said a seasoned air stewardess. “They forget that our basic job is to ensure the passengers’ safety not merely serve refreshments. The politicians are the worst of the lot,” she added. “They think they own the plane and keep calling the stewardesses just to seek attention.”
Being a state-owned airline, PIA follows the quota system in terms of employment but the other airlines do not have any such criteria. Interestingly, however, while PIA hires staff on a contract basis, the cabin crew manager of Airblue, Libby D’Souza, said that her airline offers a permanent job from day one. She added that cabin crew work according to the demands of the job and have no fixed working hours: they may fly one day in the morning and be asked to handle a 10-hour night flight the next.
However, this leads to its own problems, as a steward pointed out. “When we took up this career, we were told that we would be accommodated in four or five star hotels but this rarely happens when we serve on domestic flights,” he complained. “Some of the favourites do have this privilege but others get dumped in a low-profile hotel with unsatisfactory facilities.”
Another old hand at the service-in-flight life put in the complaint that the system used to be much better in the past. She attributed much of this to the unions that used to safeguard the rights of employees. According to her, the unions were banned in 1998. As for Airblue, which is a relatively recent entrant into the skies over Pakistan, Ms D’Souza said that no such union had ever existed for its employees.
While members of the airlines cabin crews face issues, domestic passengers have their own gripes. “They make you feel as though they are doing you a favour and you have no right to ask the stewards for anything,” said an annoyed frequent traveller.
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