The Daily PakistanPolitics-Nov 1-15, 2016

• Nov15-2016--The PMLn raised shuttle prices in islamabads diplomatic zone to Rs500 for a coaster seat and Rs1000 for a 1300cc car...previously the mostly visa seekers were charged Rs200 on the coaster...it seems that the Islamabad mayor is either corrupt or starting his own shuttle service...!
  
• Nov15-2016--The Fatehjang airport link to Islamabad is a loop turn on the motorway...it is just one road to an airport that has cost Rs100 billion already...probably there is some turnaround link via some old roads from rawalpindi however one feels that there should be a non motorway access from rawalpindi for surrounding areas to the north and south...
  
• Nov15-2016--seven soldiers amongst them NCO's died in Indian cross-border firing..despite the open Indian enmity/hatred Sartaj Aziz still wants to attend a meaningless moot in Amritsar...pakistani military soldiers are poorly trained and have a propagandist ingrained attitude causing them to have unnecessary casualties even in handling local militia's
  
• Nov15-2016--London and Pakistani mqm factions deride the propaganda that musharaf will ride in to lead them to a separate karachi...many believe that the government has recently ended the Musharraf policy on Karachi...musharaf generally regarded as a corrupt military coup plotter had escaped to dubai has generally been rejected by mqm groups despite his ethnic shiite roots...he was being tried under article 6 for treason
  
• Nov14-2016--all told three sets of containers arrived at Gwadar from Sust, Sialkot and Lahore and used the little-used western route and Baloch roads developed over the past two decades tobe loaded onto two ships birthed at Gwadar...if the port is a success than most upcountry goods can be sent thru Gwadar, however more ships would have to routinely visit the port...it is slightly off target in that ships going into the Persian gulf or coming from it could find it however otherwise shipping would have to relocate from the major ports of Karachi which too has a developed major container port...tobe successful Afghanistan and China would have to use it regularly while Iran and the central Asian states could also use it until Iran develops its own port...Pakistan's own exporters and importers would have to be forced to use the port probably to avoid the congestion and busy Karachi ports with the good option of having almost empty western and Baloch roads as an added benefit...
  
• Nov14-2016--In what many see as a forgotten past the first container ship arrived and left Gwadar with some say empty containers loaded by Chinese coolies...a ship had visited the port during the previous owners tenure...Nawaz Sharif apparently tried to ripoff the spending on CPEC by saying that 45 billion had been spent while the FWO said only 35 billion had been spent...There was also some confusion as to whose vision it was...while Gwadar is quite an old project going back to the 1980's starting out with a fishing harbour and then building a port...after there seemed to be no one willing to run it...it was handed over to a Singapore concern in the Musharraf era..they finally gave up as there was no hope for any traffic and it was than handed over to the Chinese for free...after two decades only three ships have visited the port...the Chinese than forced them to build roads to the northern areas and Afghanistan and while one does not see any major industrialization in the bordering Chinese province the Chinese will provide some political cargoes...however for the new port to be a success there would have to be industrialization around Gwadar and along the economic corridor.....According to the propaganda prone ISPR it was the vision of General Raheel while Nawaz sharif said it was the vision of Xi JinPIng's world view...It seems that the CPEC which has become at best controversial and nonsensical was immediately announced to have been completed although no power station or even the road network has been completed...the only benefit to Pakistan might be some better roads...many thought the spending would be Chinese but it is the Pakistani government that is shelling out the billions...so it can be termed a PPEC rather than a CPEC
  
• Nov13-2016--52 dead in a suicide blast in a remote shrine about 100 km from Hub...the shrine is frequented by lahootis from Sehwan who think Hazrat Adam descended there and the Noah's Arc found solid ground there...however the grave of Hazrat Adam is in Hebron, Israel where it is known to be amongst the tombs of our forefathers
  
• Nov12-2016--According to Nepra the slow completion of NTDC transmission lines might delay the end of load shedding may be beyond 2018 even if power projects are completed..many new power stations are in completely new areas and require new power lines to be in place to deliver the power to load centers...
  
• Nov12-2016--The LHC bars ASWJ chief maulana Ahmed Ludhianwi and a disqualified PMLN MPA Rashid Yacoob from contesting for PA-78 Jhang
  
• Nov12-2016--Jundullah Pakistan chief and deputy chief Sindh Taleban shot dead by Rangers in Sakran, Lasbela
  
• Nov11-2016--Press Council of Pakistan says government should not force dawn to reveal its sources rather the case should have been referred to The PCP...!
  
• Nov11-2016--Rangers shoot dead three militants in karachi
  
• Nov11-2016--Sindh governor of 14 years replaced by Saeed uz Zaman siddiqui
  
• Nov10-2016--Donald Trump wins US presidency
  
• Nov10-2016--Government to lease Steel Mills to a Chinese or Iranian company...The government has always had problems in running the Steel Mill but has now run out of steam
  
• Nov10-2016--after the bifurcation of the mqm into three groups and the weakening of Altaf Hussein they decided to replace the mqm governor who was just a one item governor
  
• Nov9-2016--two policemen shot dead in Dera Murad Jamali
  
• Nov9-2016--reports have blamed eight Indian embassy personnel as involved in terrorist activities and anti CPEC activities...three have left pakistan...while there are no public statements on what anti CPEC activities have occurred...many suggest that the roads, power plants and port activities that comprise CPEC will take several years to complete and there is no particular anti CPEC terrorism to date barring some KP/Sindh government and opposition statements...There is no quickfire route to complete CPEC and the only benefit financially can be to the Chinese who will probably be the first coal electricity billionaires in pakistan...The army chief and Shahbaz sharif have been up in arms on this non-issue...many suggest that the top three are paranoid on the matter as the people are hardly going to benefit in any way. India too is supposedly building several enterprise corridors without their military being involved at all. The CPEC is supposedly only going to benefit some Chinese areas on Pakistan's border while the Chinese are expected to make huge profits from coal power plants
  
• Nov9-2016--JIT formed in Sindh to investigate two LJ suspects arrested for involvement in 28 cases including that of Amjad Sabri...the police without checking the bullets or firing patterns had already stated that the guns were used in all the killings...one wonders what they need a JIT for now when they have culprits and their guns...many suggest that the police maybe are at their wits end and have blamed all the cases on the two...In the Amjad Sabri case, there was evidence to suggest that there was only one killer and three or four onlookers...some suggestions that one of the Sabri killers was his neighbor...The Sindh chief minister has called the five killed by Shiites as just reactions...
  
• Nov9-2016--three killed in Indian LOC firings
  
• Nov9-2016--Fc soldier killed in Zhob landmine blast
  
• Nov9-2016--Mqm factions reject Musharraf attempt to seize control of the ethnic Karachi-based party
  
• Nov9-2016--The PMLn says it has not even discussed the new army chief...Raheel Shareef is due to retire at the end of November...PML-N insiders say there is confusion on whether to appoint those who are to retire in January or consider some who are to retire later next year...earlier suggestions had been that Zubair Hayat would be the next army chief however others were also considered and some suggest that Nawaz Sharifs top advisors might finally give Raheel an extension..however attempts at raising political street support by military/Raheel supporting groups have floundered...there is generally no countrywide support for Raheel as a politician his having no political agenda barring anti-terrorism which is considered to have declined substantially...others suggest that if Nawaz Sharif is found to be corrupt by the SC then there is a possibility his weak inheritors may try to bring in Raheel as a military ruler after retirement...
  
• Nov8-2016--soldier killed in Tirah landmine blast
  
• Nov8-2016--The federal government has told Wapda to pay Punjab Rs82 billion in electricity royalties which will cost the people another 33 paisa per unit...the royalties to KP already cost the people several rupees per unit..The royalty issue has gotten out of hand and the government must end it once and for all...
  
• Nov8-2016--The troublemaking Shiites blocked a major road in Karachi and fought tear gas battles with police all day after their key leaders were arrested for killing five Sunnis in karachi...many suggest that Shiites are also foreign controlled either by Iran or even retired faujis...ordinary people do not protest by blocking a major karachi road at three in the morning to harass the people, police and government...
  
• Nov8-2016--The SC to begin Panama probe with Nawaz Sharif...upto now no one has claimed to own the panama companies that own the mayfair flats...mariam says Hussain is the owner while other reports suggest that mariam is the owner...hussain says the shenanigans were done by his grandfather and that he gifted almost 2 million dollars to his father who than gifted substantial millions to his other son and daughter...only nawaz sharifs wife has suggested that they bought the mayfair flats...many suggest that the family must be considered as a whole and decide what sort of gifts to a ruler of the country can be be considered corruption...the court could decide that the sharifs and safdars are trying to dupe the court...the court should also look into the hundreds of acres acquired by the sharif son in law...
  
• Nov7-2016--34 steel units sealed in lahore to control the smog...
  
• Nov7-2016--the government is falling back on the sectarian divide after being unable to locate key killers...they have arrested a supposed quetta mastermind...and in karachi politics and sectarianism is being mixed as faisal raza abidi was handed over to police for investigations...they also arrested leaders of the LJ, ASWJ and APSAC for involvement in karachi's sectarian killings an ASWJ arrest was a participant in the a Nov 24 election and many suspect that the PPP is playing politics with a sectarian slant...The ASWJ and JUI-F are known to barter votes in elections in sind and punjab
  
• Nov7-2016--many are suggesting that to handle the sharif family financial shenanigans the SC should treat them as a joint hindu family as they were sharing assets/earnings/properties and suspect funds from unknown sources
  
• Nov6-2016--A second PPP dissident is in trouble after karachi police arrested Faisal Raza Abidi for involvement in sectarian killings...while a shiite killer is rarely arrested the police say they are investigating his involvement in various sectarian killings...faisal Raza abidi was a diehard opponent of Nawaz Sharif's financial shenanigans and some also regarded him as a opponent of the zardari's...
  
• Nov6-2016--the smog over lahore they say is indian inspired caused by massive fires in indian punjab...there are no fires in pakistani punjab where the rice harvest is still on...alongside the motorway one can see miles of rice growing alongwith the occasional rice harvestor...however the the winter smog over lahore is very old and started in mid 1970's...
  
• Nov6-2016--it seems that somebody is a complete dheet...either some PMLn leader or ISI persona if it is not General Shareef himself...This times ads were displayed on a small stretch of Raja Bazaar in which they want the countries famous personality tobe allowed to participate in the 2018 elections thru a constitutional amendment...the general can participate in elections two years after retirement...if it is the PMLn, then obviously they can get General Shareef elected by delaying bye-elections after the 2018 elections or ask someone to resign for him...The PMLn too is considered to be quite tired of the boring sharifs and there have been some attempts to find another consensus primeminister...itis thought that if something happens Chaudhry Nisar is considered the frontrunner for his suitability to army...!
  
• Nov5-2016--army dynamites market in Wana bazaar where a major was killed...
  
• Nov5-2016--SC says that Nawaz and ministers have to consult each other at the cabinet level for legislation and approval of expenditures...in effect rejecting the powers of an independent chief executive...the prime minister has to act with his cabinet and not in isolation
  
• Nov5-2016--six killed in Karachi sectarian attacks... those killed were members of the ASWJ, tableeghi Jamat and a prayer leader
  
• Nov4-2016--Zakariya express train slams into the stationary Farid express at the Landhi railway station killing 20
  
• Nov4-2016--In what could determine Nawaz Sharif/Marium Safdar's future in politics the SC declared that it was competent to hear the case but seemingly refused to try the case...usually a case at first hearing is generally considered by a trial court...Nawaz Sharif said that he was a dependent of his children rather than the other way around...the main culprit could turn out to be Marium Nawaz/safdar...many doubt that the Nawaz Sharif children had sufficient funds in 1993-95 to buy four Mayfair flats...Mrs Nawaz Sharif is on record as having said that they purchased the flats so their poor children could have a place to stay during their studies...!Imran Khan presented his TOR based on investigation into the two Sharif Panama canal orgs and their funding...how Nawaz Sharif funded the Jeddah and Dubai steel mills and where the money from their sale went...!and how is money sent from Panama canal properties to Nawaz Sharif to be considered...it also asks for the complete investigation of funds transfers, land transfers, sale of properties and income tax returns of the sharif seniors...?
  
• Nov4-2016--Lahore smog causes 16 deaths by collisions on the motorway and becoming a severe health hazard in Lahore..the change in temperatures during the day and night is considered the main culprit with the dangerous environment also caused by pollutants from factories and the huge road network for the areas cars...The smog has a long history dating back to the mid 70's when pollution from cars and factories started
  
• Nov3-2016--Pakistan names eight Indian undercover diplomatic agents involved in Pakistani terrorism and instability
  
• Nov3-2016--four militants killed by FC in a Gawader area
  
• Nov2-2016--A major is killed in a search operation of a shop in Wana Bazaar as an IED blast occurs
  
• Nov2-2016--The SC in a body blow to PTI politics requested everyone to behave with maturity as it asked the PTI and PMLn to submit their TORS...suggesting that if a commission is formed they would implement the decision of the commission...The PMLn also had to give up their politicals of woh bhi aur mein bhi...! and agreed to let Nawaz Sharif go to jail or return the money he apparently took away for corrupt services...many surmise that it was probably the commissions from a major deal such as the IPP's in the early nineties in which the private sector was simply given billion rupee deals to setup power plants without fear of any losses...Imran Khan also announced the end of the Islamabad siege and said that a thanksgiving jalsa would be held at the speakers corner in the new parade ground...The interior ministry which handled the siege in the worst possible way probably heaved the biggest sigh of relief...The SC also criticized the NAB for not investigating the Panama leaks even when substantial information was available...
  
• Nov1-2016--sharjeel khan and Mohd Rizwan added to test squad for NZ...mohd Nawaz retained despite batting poorly but bowling adequately
  
• Nov1-2016--there have been numerous PTI arrests in Islamabad and Punjab with at least four MPA's under custody...PTI workers police say were purchasing, batons, gas masks, bamboos, foam jackets, catapults etc..It seems difficult to restrict the PTI to the parade ground many say as they will be coming from all sides and will resist police pressure...expecting a peaceful gathering is not expected...given previous experience the PTI if they have the numbers will slowly march towards d-chowk...taking an example from PAT the workers are prepared for the worst and are preparing to battle plastic bullets and tear gas..
  
• Nov1-2016--The minister of state at the interior ministry Mariam Aurangzeb has been appointed the minister of state at the information ministry...apparently her mother is an mna too
  
• Nov1-2016--Pakistan planning to transfer four officers from the Pakistani embassy in new Delhi
  
• Nov1-2016--The KP PTI contingent was moving towards Islamabad and had reached the Attock bridge which was blocked with sand filled containers ...they had to battle police and containers on the way...police will try to block their entry to Islamabad and rawalpindi...imran khan does pushups they say suggesting he might be in line for a cricketing job since he is much fitter than Misbah ul Haq...!
  
• Nov1-2016--The SC stayed the hanging of a prisoner who was said tobe paranoid schizophrenic...common in the Pakistani psyche say analysts