Lahore

• Sheep in Pakistan have splendid ears. [Spotted in old Lahore. More pics here. ]
• 80% of car’s in Lahore run on compressed natural gas.
  
• Six indigenous films were made in Pakistan last year. Bollywood films are banned to protect the native industry, yet are commonly available (along with Hollywood blockbusters) pirated on cable and satellite channels. Pakistani cinema owners are about to go on a nationwide strike, claiming that unless the government cracks down on piracy and allows people in Pakistan watch Indian films such cinemas as have not yet been turned into malls will soon go under.
  
• The Supreme Court Chief Justice of Pakistan was sacked during my visit, with riots a street away from my hotel. Banning kite flying ranked among his least popular recent decisions. Improvements in kite technology now make fallen strings lethal, killing scores of drivers and pedestrians during major festivals. The ban was lifted during this year's major kite flying festival in Lahore, at which ten people died and a hundred or so were injured due to "kite related injuries". [Conversation with Hotel owner. More details here.]
  
• There is an ongoing conflict between Pakistan and India for control over Siachen, a glacier of little strategic importance but lying around 22,000 Ft above sea level. Maintaining soldiers on the glacier costs India $1m a day, while Pakistan pays about $650,000. A ceasefire has been in force since 2003, creating what you might call a cold war.
• The village of Dara Adam khel, near Pesharawa close to the Afghan Border, is the centre of Pakistan’s illicit arms manufacturing industry. Of its 80,000 residents some 20,000 are employed in making weapons for export, predominantly to Muslim fighters around the world. [See this for more.]
• 1 in 2 Pakistanis are under 15.
  
• Amount given to Pakistan in aid by the US since 2001: $10bn. Amount including likely covert ops through CIA etc: nearer to $20bn. Amount given to education projects? Around $150m.