People are talking about —

— the phrase about heavy rain and collected water used by the chairman of a political party when he was trying to defend his party ministers after the rain in Karachi made it into a nightmare version of Venice. It was such a silly remark that now it has become a catch phrase for many jokes and promotional text in advertisements and should teach political entities that they need to think before they open their mouths to speak.

— the massive violations of building bye laws detected in the capital after a survey conducted by the Capital Development Authority and how it goes to show the impunity with which these have been carried out because the owners are probably well connected or have done under the table deals with the relevant people in the authority.

— the disturbing news that the AIOU has chopped down eighty trees and that too without permission of the authorities who check whether this wanton destruction is necessary. People say the government is spending billions of rupees for tree plantation, so this kind of unauthorized and unnecessary action is a slap in the face for it as well as environmentalists and an enquiry should be ordered to determine the facts and then censure the university authorities for taking this drastic step.

— the model courts and the good job they are doing to serve the population with speedy and inexpensive justice and is a step that has been welcomed by the public although some persons were not happy with the decision. People say many cases go on for months and even years, in some cases only coming to an end when either the complainant or defendant dies, a sad reflection on the system which is now being overhauled to give quicker results.

— the mind boggling fact that all powerful persons who have been imprisoned are termed very ill or in poor health by their family and supporters but appear quite hale and hearty when they appear on the electronic media. People say if these persons, who get many amenities while incarcerated, had to be kept like ordinary prisoners crammed in overfull jails, then they would know what prison life is like and be thankful for little mercies.

— the infighting that goes on in different organisations and how it is not a healthy trend. People say our sports bodies are particularly guilty of not being harmonious in their working and it is because of this that our overall performance keeps falling. People say such a system needs to be put in place which ensures that there has been a fair decision taken on all aspects by the administration, like a majority vote by a special committee on any important decision.

— the family festival organised for the public in the capital and how it is a good initiative though there are a few critical voices also being heard because of the situation with a neighbouring country. People say it is better to show that while we support a cause for the sake of humanity and brotherhood, life must go on as normally as possible to show we are not running scared of what may happen in the future because of the posturing by this neighbouring country.