The PakistanPolitics April 15-30, 2019

• Apr30-2019--The key reasons for at least asad umars removal apart from many say corruption allegations, coup plots and bad policy decisions and a falling revenue intake was the criticism of his policies which he could not control...immediately after his removal everyone says the economy is improving on just one indicator that the fiscal deficit has fallen substantially...many base it on his inexperience and being unable to control his finance ministry officials...they say that the Asad Umar dollar has become very expensive...!
  
• Apr30-2019--two security men killed in militant firing on checpost in north waziristan
  
• Apr30-2019--Pakistan 20th on military spending list led by the USA...in 2018 pakistan military spending said to be $11.4 billion
  
• Apr30-2019--Army spokesman says PTM a foreign funded subversive organisation...they say they have reports of funding from NDS and RAW...he says this is not a declaration of war and the army chief instructions were todo nothing harsh against the PTM...he said that 45% of mined areas had been cleared, checposts had been reduced and missing persons had also dropped to 2500...The ISPR sure is behaving strangely as is Imran khan on the issue and there seem tobe three differing views prevalent on the PTM in action...A PTM MNA rejected the allegations and said they are holding the military accountable...he said that Imran khan is being controlled by the military...!ISPR alleges that Bilawal using PTM to get indian donations from consulates in jalalabad...He says he is getting to know tribal youth while Zardari says Rao Anwar was a good kid...!allegations of assassinations and relations with anti military figures and foreigners such as mashal khan takkar...If they are so bad than what is the government doing engaging them...!Others say the military backed/(formed the PTM) Pashteen very early on and only saw red when indians funds started to disappear...!military want PTM to provide information on who has gone over to the afghanistan based TTP...
  
• Apr30-2019--IMF happy with reduction of fiscal deficit substantially to around Rs600 million in the last quarter...This probably based on a reduction in government spending specifically in the punjab where government development spending has dropped 70%...mostly many think the PTI has no idea what to do...!Revenues technically have declined and the government is back to depending on CPEC again
  
• Apr30-2019--Pakistani government suggests 15% higher petrol prices just on the anticipation of higher world petroleum prices...usually effect of higher prices takes place a month or two down the line given Pakistan's contract based long term supply orders...
  
• Apr28-2019--Only pakistani cricketers are allowed official foreign health facilities...Shadab khan sent to england to see specialist on viral problems related to Hepatitus...standard treatments available in pakistan too
  
• Apr28-2019--problems in Libya, Venezuela and Iran mostly fueled by teh USA could lead to higher oil prices...although Saudi Arabia ready to meet anybodies extra demand
  
• Apr28-2019--almost 2.3 million children have missed polio vaccinations in this years campaign
  
• Apr28-2019--With Funds scarce Imran Khan wants to waste CPEC money for the social sector and agriculture...while China will ease import restrictions nominally...pakistan has a $11 billion trade deficit with china...electricity loadsheddings still continue in poverty stricken areas
  
• Apr28-2019--three Levies men killed in North Waziristan blast at a checpost
  
• Apr27-2019--The national assembly was told that drug prices were actually upped by 30% and not 15%...earlier Imran Khan had said that drug companies make upto 300% profit...obviously the government is still not clear about the issue and many suggest that ministers have left the government to get corruption proceeds of wrong decision making...
  
• Apr27-2019--Srilanka soldiers seemed dressed better than the pakistan army with camouflaged helmets and huge goggles...!...
  
• Apr27-2019--Bilawal turns a blind eye to the third umpire saying he does not exist...however even TV chanels have started programs on the " Doctrine of Necessity" suggesting that martial law is no different from rule by advisors and special assistants...apparently there are 17 special assistants and 5 advisors who attend cabinet meetings...special assistants and advisors donot have to answer to parliament...apparently one special assistant for expatriates started pushing an IT company from Dubai...!many suggest that the dollar exchange rate was also changed to favor specific expatriates...
  
• Apr27-2019--Travel ban imposed on Khaqan Abbasi and Miftah Ismail
  
• Apr27-2019--Polio drive suspended after spike in attacks...others suggest that there are so many missing children that they dont want to evaluate or catchup...in Punjab alone over 700000 children missed polio vaccinations...
  
• Apr27-2019--Imran Khan asks China to shift spending from roads/ powerstations /industry to people orientation...technically he wants CPEC to invest in others aspects of the economy...people in politics are laughing at his 5 billion KP tree planting claim...specifically Bannu politicians say only 20 million trees planted and a wrong type of cardamom tree also planted instead of keekar, tali and toot...they claim there is massive corruption in the tree planting campaign...as for climate change he has made no efforts to shift to electric cars or even solar cars...he also wants assistance in dealing with corruption while Xi JinPing emphasizes that he make multilateral efforts for investment from non chinese sources...
  
• Apr26-2019--Heat strokes in Sehwan claims 15 lives...
  
• Apr26-2019--Sri Lankan mayhem involves some pakistanis as pakistani refugees in Negombo take shelter in mosques and police stations...seven arrested for overstaying
  
• Apr26-2019--PPP happy to insult but cries like a baby when Imran Khan retaliates...
  
• Apr26-2019--Nawaz Sharif applies to Sc for treatment abroad despite availaibility of expertise in country
  
• Apr26-2019--The polio war intensifies as polio woman killed in chaman makes it four. Polio team thrashed in pukhtun dominated Pirwadhai in rawalpindi
  
• Apr26-2019--Imran Khan backing out of afghanistan pledges neutrality and urges both sides to end warfare...
  
• Apr26-2019--Imran Khan in China to work on the next $20 billion in loans for projects mostly said to deal with railways...These are big projects $8-10 billion and supposedly will double the railway engines speed to 160 Kph...Pakistan has pledged to keep CPEC and IMF seperate to keep India and the USA happy...
  
• Apr25-2019--The oppositions babies..baby bhutto and baby sharif got really annoyed at imran khans riposte to their insulting attitudes...Imran apparently refered to baby bilawal as an accidental chairman and for some reason refered to him as Bilawal sahiba...apparently both the PPP and PMLn retaliated using bad language...
  
• Apr25-2019--SC restores all taxes on mobile phone tops up which apparently amount to around 40%
  
• Apr25-2019--polio tasked policeman killed in Buner
  
• Apr24-2019--two blasts in dera allahyar area, 12 injured...another blast near a unicef vehicle
  
• Apr24-2019--polio vaccination scam/scare has caused widespread problems in KP...a policeman on a polio team was shot dead in bannu while nobody was ready in Charsadda to have their children vaccinated...two new polio cases reported from Fata...widespread refusals to the vaccine reported in kohat and rawalpindi which has a large pukhtun population
  
• Apr24-2019--The PTI bent on running the country on black money by hook or crook...they somehow hope that 10-20 billion dollars of black money will be whitened and returned to the country...specifically many think that it is aimed at nawaz sharif/ jehangir tareen two of the biggest panama crooks...the first task of the new advisor finance is to create a new money whitener...Imran Khan supposedly going to to beg for 8-10 billion from the chinese
  
• Apr24-2019--The PMLn submitted a bill for the janubi punjab and bahawalpur provinces which was referred to a committee...no mention of the hazara province...The PTI said they supported only one south punjab province..the remaining punjab hopes that the new provinces will take shape quickly and that they will be rid of the discriminating Buzdar who knows nothing about any place in punjab but a hilly area in DG khan...
  
• Apr24-2019--Opposition urges Imran Khan take the foreign minister with him rather than the ISI chief after his strange admissions in Iran...many say Imran Khan is now a security risk...they quote that once he said that germany and japan had a common border and that Modi was more amenable to a kashmir solution...!they say Imran Khan is blunder prone...!The PMLn said that Imran Khan had previously said that the Pakistan army had created terror groups...they said that the IMF bailout is complicated by its FATF demands...The PTI retorted that Nawaz Sharif and Modi had literally gone to bed together in Raiwind and Imran Khan statements were literally being manufactured in the GHQ...They also retorted that Bilawal had gotten foreign education at the expense of the poor in Sindh who were being looted by his family.They said that Bilawal had become the PPP chairman accidently and his father would'nt let go of his shirt(because he might run off to Calais...!) while Bilawal kept repeating that Imran Khan was a selected primeminister...maybe Imran Khan forgot to mention that the iranians were interfering in balochistan at the state level while only a few iranian militant organizations worked across from pakistan...the Rigi group was iranian based and iran was advised just to appoint baluchis to sistans top positions...
  
• Apr23-2019--Imports have fallen by 7% annually upto march to a total of $40 billion
  
• Apr23-2019--Oil prices might start rising by May as Trump has announced the end of all waivers to purchase iranian oil...!
  
• Apr23-2019--In one of the strangest happenings since many decades of polio vaccinations...hundreds of children in KP fell sick after being vaccinated...it occurred mostly in Badaber and Charsadda and the children were hospitalized with nausea/ stomach pains...angry parents apparently setfire to a basic health unit and held polio workers hostage...many feel that the vaccines might have been mixed with vitamins or just went bad from long storage...however doctors said it might be psychological and the government said it was a political rumor mill...rumors spread that children had died from the vaccine...mosques started announcing that children should not be vaccinated...the authorities said the issue appeared from one school and the vaccine was procured from indonesia...!
  
• Apr23-2019--The PTI has reposed its trust in the failing Usman Buzdar...hopefully south punjab will be formed soon and we can get rid of the system that the PTI has in punjab and the chief minister(strangely picked by a hoodwinked Imran Khan)
  
• Apr23-2019--The primeminister literally turned into a wingless dove in Iran..hooked by the shiite mullahs he made strange statements...Imran Khan seems to have turned shiite...!while other shiite primeministers have behaved strangely in Iran... Imran Khan takes the cake...he also agreed to form a border 'reaction force" which just might be more trouble than solution...with the trigger happy iranians and pakistan army god knows what might happen...!
  
• Apr21-2019--stranger things have never happened before..Pakistan blaming Iran for the Ormara fiasco...trying to destabilize to balochistan...!Trump seems tobe right about the IRG
  
• Apr21-2019--a strange gathering at Banigala took place...Imran also showing off his personal new presidential table...!! Imrans allies attended...looked like a gahreelo cabinet meeting but they say it was not...some strange absentee's showed there ire at Imrans trying to impose himself on the government...Petroleum went to Omar Ayub...Firdous showed some style in her press conference saying she would not attack the opposition or the media...and that they are waiting on Asad Umar to lose his anger and get back on the team...!...? the rebellious Fawad Chaudhry also disappeared to Lahore with some rumouring he is asking tobe shifted to the provinces...Many are suggesting that abdul hafeez sheikh is being given a wide berth and he too did not attend...!Sheikh Rashid also does not like the presidential attempts of the weakened primeminister...!Imran khans response...tourism, tourism, tourism ..anyone want to visit bajaur...!!
  
• Apr20-2019-- cabinet changes have been confirmed with Imran Khan saying he will kick out other useless ministers...most are advisors...petroleum advisor Nadeem Baber is in a 600 million litigation with SNGPL so his appointment is definitely a conflict of interest ie if Imran Khan understands what that means...advisor firdous ashik awan will handle the information ministry with two or three others...Chan has not been heard of for some time...Only Ghulam Sarwar said he was not expecting his and asad umar's ministries tobe changed...
  
• Apr20-2019--Imran Khan says ministers are useless and he will replace them with advisors and the finance minister with the IMF...while pukhtuns as everyone well knows live everywhere without fear or favor IK says he is with the PTM in thought...there are no threats to pukhtuns and both the PTM and Imran Khan are going bonkers...IK still wants to play cricket with his ministers...he however has forgotten the role of the selectors...unknown sifarishis who select the cricket team...upto now only two ministers finance and NHS have resigned...maybe he should think in the same way about his alallu tallalu chief ministers...instead of an additional value added tax he should tax industry and big bussiness and military generals who are the richest in the country...putting an additional burden on economically lowly ranked people will result in unknown consequences...which can go out of control...his though stream of 15 years ago may not be correct too and he should study the present situations and the pros and cons of his actions and reactions...not going after terrorists in the tribal territories would have been disastrous...
  
• Apr20-2019--According to Dawn the cabinet formation may still be in flux as the cabinet division has yet to notify at least three new ministers and three new advisors...ghulam sarwar has been listed as moved to Aviation minister...Fawad has been moved to Science and technology...the only new minister listed is Ijaz ahmed shah as the interior minister...Dawn says Asad Umar was offered energy/petroleum but he refused...
  
• Apr19-2019--India playing the military and private sector media and government in pakistan like they were kids...pakistan gets sucked into simple indian propaganda...india stops immediately trade at two points on the LOC..MOFA also lied about talks and indian intransigence and bullying on kartarpura talks
  
• Apr19-2019--In a surprise announcement which was rumoured earlier the Finance Minister Asad Umar a son of a lt. general and a token representative of karachis industrialists having been a head of Engro resigned after being seen as a failure to convince the populace about the strange economy...he seems to have resigned in a rupture with Imran Khan as he refused to attend a consultative meeting...Imran Khan generally a slow plodder quickly announced a cabinet reshuffle bringing in old hands to replace the erring groveling ministers...while the reshuffle and resignation had been rumoured it still was a surprise...Asad Umar seen generally as trying to appease the IMF...the men that Imran Khan brought in were a completely different breed and definitely from teh older bracket and a change in thought process seems to have resulted...Imran Khan who is 66 probably could not take the childish pranks and constant infighting that was talking place...he seems to have brought in the generals men all over again...the troublemaker Fawad Chaudhry shifted to science and technology...Ghulam Sarwar to Aviation, Ijaz Ahmed Shah to Interior, Shahryar afridi upgraded to States and Frontier Regions, Azam Swati makes a comeback to Parliamentary Affairs, Abdul Hafeez Sheikh an outsider brought in as Advisor Finance(defacto finance minister), Dr Zafarullah Mirza NHS, Firdaus Ashiq awan information minister and Nadeem Baber petroleum division...Imran Khan maybe trying to placate the mullahs and the PPP as well as the musharaf brigade and bringing in older more dependable people...Mr Imran Khan will now be depending on advisors for key ministries...this a sort of half presidential system in which non electables are made controllers of key ministries giving greater say to the primeminister ...I would term ashik awan, abdul hafeez sheikh, Nadeem Baber and Ijaz Ahmed Shah as surprise choices...in fact Imran Khan has accepted that his government till now is a complete failure in key depts...
  
• Apr19-2019--in what maybe a shock to the balochistan security system 11 security men belonging to different services were taken off buses by people in FC uniform and shot dead in a hotel room...near Gawader..three others also killed
  
• Apr19-2019--Government continues to run its campaign against exchange companies with small amounts of dollar holdings ...such companies can hardly change the dollar price or even manipulate it...exchange companies are helpful to people...usually smaller exchange companies price is a bit lower than the kerb rate...most manipulation comes from bigger sources such as exporters, large companies, banks and the State Bank which has to purchase dollars when required by the government...
  
• Apr19-2019--pakistan announces its World Cup squad...with the english, south african,india and australia teams in such good form it hardly matters but selections should be made on merit and form...key positions have gone to sifarishis or players who in the recent past have been failures...Sarfraz one of the key failures does not even have a replacement wicketkeeper...Mohd rizwan who had shown better wicketkeeping skills and scored two centuries against the australians was not considered...Shoaib malik has creeped back into the team despite a lack of success in batting and bowling...he probably will be the replacement captain if sarfraz collapses..mohammed hasnanin has been picked despite bowling in the lower 140's mostly...Imad wasim has been picked despite supposedly being unfit...Junaid Khan has made it back despite bowling better in only the last two matches...Mohd amir has been dropped but probably can make it back if he plays better against the english team...Junaid or mohd hasnain might be dropped for mohd amir if they fail in england...Amir expected to bowl better in england
  
• Apr18-2019--board of directors members of PCB walk out after dispute with chairman...they want MD to be fired who was a former english player
  
• Apr18-2019--PTI tax amnesty plan put on hold
  
• Apr18-2019--eight pleas have been filed for the review of the Faizabad sitin judgement by judge Faiz Issa a supposed PMLn supporter...That includes the PTI, MOD, IB, ECP, Pemra, MQM, railways minister and Ijaz ul haq...The MOD files the strange plea that the court has unnerved pakistan armed forces officials who are not floored by even military defeats and losing half the country...the views about the ISI running key affairs of state and even running protest demos and politicians is usually accepted by most people...the judgement had ordered the defence ministry and military chiefs to penalize personnel who were violating their oath..the PTI was irked by teh judge ridiculing their dharna calling it an illegal protest for publicity and deliberately made wrong allegations...The judge however did not consider the shahbaz sharif remarks who said ..."some of our people are coming to islamabad"...however no reference is made to why the PMLn government did not stop the protest before entering islamabad...
  
• Apr17-2019--PTI cabinet splits into pro and anti black money supporters and tax amnesty plan as good as shelved...
  
• Apr17-2019--a terrorism incident is always followed by an anti terrorism operation...Five TTP men holed up in a hayatabad residence killed after a 17 hours long battle and the house collapses as police/army/paramilitary ignite a booby trap...one ASI also killed
  
• Apr16-2019--25 killed as duststorms, rain, thunderstorms and floods lash various areas in
  
• Apr16-2019--Asad Umar the troubled finance minister says he has agreed to a IMF plan in writing for a $6-8 billion package...he also denies he is being removed
  
• Apr16-2019--punjab gets fourth police chief in eight months...new IG is capt(r) Arif Nawaz who earlier served as IGP for eight months...he has two years till retirement
  
• Apr15-2019--bread and butter prices raised in karachi...large bread now costs Rs.90