Day by Day Current Affairs (July 25, 2018) | MCQs for CSS, PMS, NTS

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July 25, 2018

1. Two Afghan border crossings closed

• Pakistan on July 24, 2018 closed two major border points with Afghanistan for its efforts to maintain security during the July 25 elections.
• The Embassy of Pakistan in the Afghan capital Kabul has announced that the Chaman border in Balochistan and Kharlachi in the Kurram district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will remain closed on July 24 and July 25 due to parliamentary elections in Pakistan.
• However, the major border crossing at Torkham in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will remain open as usual, said a statement posted online.
• Pakistan still hosts around 2.4 million Afghan refugees, according to the UN refugee agency.
• Last week Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had assured Pakistani caretaker Prime Minister Nasir-ul-Mulk and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa that his government will take measures on the Afghan side of the border for security during the elections.

2. Justice Tahira Safdar nominated as first female chief justice in Pakistan

• Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar nominated Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar as the Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court (BHC), paving way for her to become the first female chief justice of any court in the country.
• Justice Nisar said that he will never even let a scratch come to the institution, referring to the matter of Justice Siddiqui’s fiery speech against state institutions.
• Justice Tahira Safdar will work as the chief justice of the BHC till October 5 next year. Justice Tahira Safdar is part of the special court, hearing the high treason case against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
• She was born on October 5, 1957, at Quetta. She received her basic education from the Cantonment Public School, Quetta, and finished her bachelors’ degree from the Government Girls College, Quetta. Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar did her Masters in Urdu Literature from the University of Balochistan, and completed her degree in law from the University Law College, Quetta, in 1980.

3. 305 females contesting on NA general seats

• Although all the major political parties have fielded five percent women candidates on general seats, fulfilling the constitutional needs in the elections being held today (July 25, 2018), most of them are contesting on less important seats for the respective parties.
• It is the constitutional requirement under Elections Act, 2017, to allot five percent of the total fielded candidates to women candidates. Thus 60 seats out of 342 are reserved for women in the National Assembly and 137 in the provincial assemblies.
• Reportedly, out of total 107, 45 political parties have awarded tickets to females to fulfill the requirement, so there are about 305 females contesting on NA general seats, also including 60 women who are in the run as independent candidates. Many women are contesting on the provincial seats.
• Over 50 small political parties have not awarded tickets to females while major parties have crossed the limit of five percent. The religious parties which earlier discouraged allotment of tickets to women have also fielded a few on the general seats.
• After 1999 military coup, General Pervez Musharraf introduced 60 reserved seats for women in the National Assembly through Legal Framework Order. In 2002 elections, 57 women contested on general seats and 13 emerged victorious, so the NA had 73 women. It was 21.6 percent of the total seats.
• In 2008, 64 women contested on general seats and 16 of them won, so 76 women reached the National Assembly. This number was 22 percent of the total house. Likewise, in 2013, out of 161 women contesting on general seats, only nine could win the election. Thus the number of women decreased to 63, which formed 20.5 percent of the house.

4. Tax relief for erstwhile Fata, Pata notified

• The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has notified the tax exemptions for the erstwhile Fata and Pata for next five years as part of the government’s strategy to extend benefits to people.
• The FBR has issued four notifications, which stated that no sales tax will be charged on electricity bills of domestic, commercial and industrial consumers in Fata.
• The erstwhile Fata and Pata had become part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the 31st Constitutional Amendment. However, no SRO has been issued to deal with the non-customs paid vehicles in Fata/Pata.
• Under the package, non customs paid vehicles would be allowed to be used in erstwhile Fata/Pata for a period of five years ending on 30th June 2023.

5. Ordinance enforced to address FATF concerns lapses

• The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018, which provided for domestically proscribing individuals and entities listed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), has lapsed in the absence of the National Assembly.
• The ordinance, which mainly affected Hafiz Saeed-linked Jamaatud Dawa and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), was promulgated on Feb 9 this year.
• The ordinance amended Sections 11-B and 11-EE of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 (XXVII of 1997). Section 11-B sets out parameters for proscription of groups, whereas 11-EE describes the grounds for listing of individuals.
• Sub-Section `aa` was added to both Sections 11-B and 11-EE, respectively, according to which organisations and individuals `listed under the UnitedNations (Security Council) Act, 1948 (XIV of 1948), or` will be included in the First Schedule (for organisations) and Fourth Schedule (for individuals), respectively, on an ex parte basis.
• As per Article 89 of the Constitution, ordinances promulgated by the president are valid for 120 days. The ordinances are, however, required to be laid in the National Assembly after their promulgation for legislation on the matter.
• The National Assembly can also reject an ordinance bypassing aresolution against it.

6. China to invest $14b in S Africa

• South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on July 24, 2018 announced that China would invest $14 billion in the country after he held talks with President Xi Jinping in Pretoria on the eve of a multilateral summit.
• Ramaphosa came to power in February pledging to revive the economy and attract investors after Jacob Zuma was ousted from office at the end of a nine-year reign dominated by graft scandals, low economic growth and record unemployment.
• Among the deals signed on Tuesday was a $2.5 billion loan to South Africa’s state-run power company Eskom, which is burdened by massive debts and embroiled in graft allegations involving Zuma’s government.

7. Washington opens global meet on religious liberty

• The US government on July 24, 2018 opened a three-day ministerial meeting, the first of its kind to promote freedom of religion which it says is under attack globally.
• The first two days are devoted to civil society and “survivors” of religious persecution, before a gathering Thursday of ministers from numerous countries.
• The administration of US President Donald Trump has made religious liberty a human rights priority.

8. US claims largest dinosaur foot ever discovered

• About 150 million years ago, a giant, long-necked dinosaur stomped on the ground in the Western US state of Wyoming and left behind what researchers said is the largest dinosaur foot ever discovered.
• The foot bones, found beneath a series of tail bones, extend about three feet (one meter) wide and are believed to belong to a brachiosaur, from a group of extinct herbivores known as sauropods, said the findings in the journal PeerJ.
• This is an “exceptionally large foot, bigger than the elements of all other known sauropod foot bones,” lead author Anthony Maltese, of the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park, Colorado, told AFP in an email.
• To give a sense of the creature’s immense size, its thigh bone alone measured nearly 6.8 feet (2.07 meters).

9. Japan firm to fly wedding plaques into space

• The sky is no longer the limit for lovers looking for unusual ways to commemorate their nuptials, with a Japanese company now offering to blast commemorative wedding plaques into space.
• Warpspace, a start-up based in Tsukuba City outside Tokyo, is introducing the new service in partnership with a local hotel popular for wedding banquets.
• For about 30,000 yen ($270), newly-weds marrying at the hotel will be able to emboss their names and design elements on 16-by-eight-millimetre (one-fifth of a square inch) titanium plates that will be loaded onto a tiny satellite.
• The satellite will be taken up to the International Space Station on a supply ship, and then released by astronauts. Customers will receive photos of the craft carrying their plaques as it swirls among the stars, Warpspace chief executive Toshihiro Kameda told AFP.

10. Lochte banned for 14 months after IV infusion

• Six-time Olympic gold medallist Ryan Lochte has been suspended 14 months for an anti-doping violation after he received an intravenous infusion, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced on Monday.
• While USADA said Lochte was not using a banned substance, athletes can typically only receive IVs as part of hospital treatment or through an exemption.
• The 33-year-old American posted a picture of himself getting the IV on social media in May which caused USADA to open an investigation, one that Lochte “fully cooperated” with according to officials. “Lochte received an intravenous infusion of permitted substances at an infusion clinic in a volume greater than 100 mL in a 12-hour period without a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE),” USADA said in a statement, adding the swimmer had accepted his suspension.