ARMY TRANSFERS,MEHTAB SENTENCED,BOMB BLASTS,HAMOODUR EHMAN REPORT,LT GEN ZIAUDDIN BUTT,LPG--01SEP-30SEP

• September 30: The SBP is now intervening in the market to stop the further rise of the dollar...

• September 30: The sindh high court rejected a request by Nawaz Sharifs lawyers to summon pervez musharraf in the plane hijacking case. The case has been conducted without hearing the main person involved which shows that teh courts are not really independent

• September 29: Seven PMLn members convicted in Supreem Court storming case.Each given one month jail and Rs5000 fine. Prominent contemneess are Tariq Aziz the hiflying and sanctimonious PTV compere and Akhter Rasool teh famous hockey player

• Sept28: In two freak results south korea defeated pakistan 0-1 as Sohail Abbas failed with numerous penalty corners while south korea scored with a beautiful variation on an indirect penalty corner conversion which had the pakistani goalkeeper mesmerized. In the other semifinal the dutch won on after time penalty strokes after being totally dominated by the australians. The result has caused a south korea -- holland final while most expected a pakistan -- australia final who will now play for the bronze medal

• Sep26:Pakistan reached the semifinals of the Olympic Hockey tournament after a zig zag display. They won the last match against holland 2-0 against the run of play by what can by pakistani standards be called good defensive tactics. With no forward clicking it was left to penalty corners to bring the much needed goals. The dutch seemed to move thru the center easily while pakistan tried to move thru the wings. Pakistan coordination was inadequate with players falling back after passing the ball rather than running forward. Pakistan also seem unable to hit the ball into the D from the sidelines and always seemed to loose the ball in individual attempts at dribbling around multiple defenders

• Sep25: Govt reaches accord with IMF
  The pakistan finance minister states that they have reached a $3.5 billion three year agreement with the IMF team after agreeing to some changes in economic indicators. The agreement is subject to approval of both the IMF and the pakistani govt. The objective of the loans is stated tobe the generation of confidence in pakistans economy.Others think that teh loans are unnecessary and will only complicate the difficult repayments problem that pakistan already has

• .Sept24: One killed in toy bomb blast in sukkur

• Sept 25: The govt might be ruing its decision to free float the rupee. That decision came after the govt found itself unable to comply with IMF advice to devalue the rupee. The govt thought that a freefloat on the one hand might encourage expatriates to send in more money as its value fell and that it would not fall below rupees 60 to a dollar. However within days the rupee had fallen by more than 11%. The rupee was openly trading at rs60 while the govt tried to intervene it back to rupees 58. Once speculative pressures start there will be no way to stop a freefall of the rupee. One sees a target of Rs 75 to the dollar within six months.Expatriates hold on to your dollars ..dont send them just yet..

• Sep 22: The government today increased the prices of the following petroleum products. Details of the increased prices are given below:

• Sept21:Petroleum Prices raised
  

                        Old Price + Increment= New Price
  
   
  Motor Spirit (Regular)--- 27.50 + 0.50 = 28.00 
  Motor Spirit (Super)----- 29.50 + 0.50 = 30.00 
  HOBC -------------------- 32.50 + 0.50 = 33.00 
  Kerosene Oil ------------ 11.25 + 2.75 = 14.00 
  High Speed Diesel ------- 13.50 + 1.75 = 15.25 
  Light Diesel Oil -------- 11.00 + 2.50 = 13.50 
  JP-4 -------------------- 13.40 + 1.50 = 14.90 
  Note: All Prices are in Rs per litre

• Sep22: The musharraf govt claims that indian terrorism agencies were behind the bomb blast in the crowded islamabad fruit wholesale market in which nineteen were killed and over 70 injured.However since the bomb was in a crate of grapes and teh truck came from the tribal territories it can be safely said that it was the working of some crazy pathan tribesman or afghan. Bomb materials are said tobe freely available in the tribal terrirtories. The indians could obviously order it via a telephone call. However indian saboteurs apart from those in their embassy rarely makit to islamabad.

• Sep22: According to press reports the deadly congo virus has claimed at least sixe lives in the Loralai area of balochistan.In reaction the district administration has destroyed all available meat, milk and curd which are supposedly teh source of teh disease

• Sep21:The musharaf govt has raised the support price of rice by 10%. The rates of Basmati are now RS460 per 40 kg. The stated reason is that huge quantities are lying at the grower level without a market.However this is the price at which the govt buys the rice. Market prices for basmati are around Rs30 per kilo and the govt could make a huge profit. Another reason is said to be that teh grower gets an adequate price. However nobody in this govt is thinking of the consumer who is obviously going to have to bear this continous largesse to farmers and other special interest groups

• September 20: 15 killed in a bomb blast in the islamabad fruit market

• Rupee loses 11% in value in dollar terms as SBP relaxes control

• September 19: An indian attack on an outpost in the Lipa sector of azad kashmir was repulsed by the pakistan army killing over a dozen indians

• September 18: India has categorically stated that it refuses to hand over kashmir to pakistan thereby shutting the door on any hopes of a peaceful solution. A new situation is expected to emerge by some which might lead to an independent or UN run kashmir

• September17: SBP allows dollar to trade outside margins on market demands meaning a slow and steady devaluation of the rupee

• September 17: The Interior ministry has shutdown 28 bonded warehouses meant for diplomats leaving thirteen as they were involved in smuggling

• September 16: Musharraf who does not seem too riled with the comments of pakistani politicians seems to have been upset by teh comments of bangladeshs' hasina wajid who made mild comments about military rule, restoration of democracy and involvement of the pakistan army in 1971 atrocities. Bandladesh has had almost similar problems with military takeovers as has pakistan

• September 16: The first Super7 prototype a joint pakistan china venture in fighter aircraft may fly in early 2001

• September 16: Pakistan to purchase an oil tanker

• September 16: PTCL starts online telephone connections in defence, karachi
• 01Sep--The transfer, retirement and promotions of 11 Lieutenant generals of the pakistan army took effect. The major changes being the removal of Mohd Aziz Khan and Syed Mohd Amjad from the prestigious and important positions of Chief Of General Staff and NAB chairman and the appointment of Mohd Yusuf Khan and Khalid Maqbool in their place
• The PMLn former Nwfp chief minister Sirdar Mehtab Khan sentenced to 14 years , fined Rs2 crore and debarred from electoral office for 21 years in wheat import scandal. He supposedly imported defective wheat and got commissions.Sentenced alongwith were former secretary food NWFP, a contractor while the former food minister was acquitted after turning approver
• Sep4--Bomb blast at lahores badami bagh bus terminal kills four and injures many.
• DG ISI visits russia...
• Pakistans arms exports reach $30.2million
• Sep5--Five additional judges appointed to the NWFP High Court. Included in the appointments are two lawyers who were removed from the PHC after the famous Judges Case...
• Sep6--General sales Tax extended to cement, cigarettes, beverages, icecream
• JI bahawalnagar leader shot dead near arifwala
• Sep8--7 people killed in a dharampura,lahore bomb blast
• Electricity rates raised by 7.5% or Rs.013 per unit
• Sep12--Musharraf refuses to hold trials of generals responsible for the East Pakistan surrender in accordance with the yet unpublished hamoodurrehman report. Musharraf has refused to target the armies faults either in corruption or causing a loss to pakistan.....obviously to avoid a split in the ranks of his dwindling suppporters.He showed his naivety by accusing Zulfikar ali Bhutto instead of being behind the reports contents and the fall of east pakistan...It must be made clear that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was brought in by the military at the fag end of the east pakistan crisis but was unable to bridge the huge divide between pakistans two parts created by almost 13 years of dictatorial military rule....The pakistani press attitudes despite its submissive fawning role still rankles musharraf...He seems undecided as yet to turn into a military politician and might be looking for an another stooge to run the country...
• Pakistan to again import sugar from india despite its poor quality but refuses to export electricity as india is not willing to pay the high rates
• Punjab Anp's women wing secretary mysteriously murdered
• Private TV stations to be allowed from next year
• Ten injured as traders-police clash in hyderabad as traders hold army/survey team hostage for several hours
• Sep13--The military still intends to court martial Lt Gen Ziauddin Butt and Brigadier Javed Malik after the process of the plane case ends says The NEWS. However the two are still in custody but no action has been taken to either retire them or initiate cases against them.Some rumours go as far as to suggest that both were acting out a pre planned scenario under army instructions......??
• Sep14--The privatisation bids for 2 LPG bussiness which were below normal have been rejected while the Caltex bid for the SSGC LPG assetts has been approved. The governments methods to restrict privatisation bidding to a few selected firms allows bidders to settle matters among themselves. The government has thus lost huge sums because of the restricted bidding method
• At least three buses were set ablaze in karachi protests as motorcycle riding gunmen shot dead two MQMh activists.Three more people were killed in the ensuing violence two of whom were found strangulated with their hands and legs tied.
• The rupee has depreciated 5.7% since it a free float was allowed
• Sep15--As Musharraf headed back to pakistan after a 10 day joyride to the USA his plane was forced to return to New York due to a bomb hoax