Day by Day Current Affairs (July 28, 2018) | MCQs for CSS, PMS, NTS

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 July 28, 2018

1. Table of Contents

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   Foreign observers find no meddling by troops in polling

• Two international election observation missions one from the European Union and the other from the Commonwealth on July 27, 2018 observed that the army troops deployed at polling stations did not take over the polling process and only assisted the presiding officers in the general elections.
• The heads of the EU and Commonwealth missions, however, expressed concern over the environment in which the elections were held and highlighted the need for improvement in the procedure for counting of ballot papers.
• EU`s election observation mission chief Michael Gahler while presenting the mission`s preliminary report said the troops did not take over the process that was conducted by the presiding officers, but the environment in which the elections were held was of a major concern.
• `A number of violent attacks, targeting political parties, party leaders, candidates and election officials, affected the campaign environment. Most interlocutors acknowledged a systematic effort to undermine the former ruling party through cases of corruption, contempt of court and terrorist charges against its leaders and candidates. The electorally sensitive timing, as well as the content of decisions of courts investigating or adjudicating on matters related to high-profile Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidates, were perceived by several stakeholders as an indication of the politicisation of the judiciary.

2. UN chief praises Pakistanis` `commitment to democracy`

• Antonio Guterres, the United Nations Secretary General, has congratulated the people of Pakistan upon the conclusion of elections, saying that he `looks forward to the formation of a new government`.
• `By exercising their constitutional right to vote, the people of Pakistan have reaffirmed their commitment to a democratic Pakistan,` he said in a statement read out by his spokesman Stephane Djuarric on July 27, 2018.
• `The Secretary General looks forward to the formation of a new government and wishes it success in providing the people of Pakistan a stable, democratic, and prosperous future,` the statement said.

3. Dr Malani first Hindu to win NA’s general seat

• Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani has become the first ever member of the Hindu community (since restoration of the joint electorate system in the country under the Legal Framework Order of 2002) who has won a general seat of the National Assembly.
• Dr Malani won the NA-222 Tharparkar seat in the July 25 general election with 106,630 votes defeating his nearest rival, the Grand Democratic Alliance’s (GDA) Arbab Zakaullah, who bagged 87,261 votes.
• In the 2013 election, Dr Malani had contested and emerged victorious on PS-61 Mithi. Hariram Kishori Lal and Gayanchand Essrani also held the general seats of the provincial assembly from Mirpurkhas and Jamshoro districts, respectively, on PPP tickets.
• Two other Hindu community members, Engineer Gianchand and Krishna Kumari Kohli, who belong to the party and hail from Thar, are presently members of the Senate.
• Engineer Gianchand heads the party’s Tharparkar district chapter. The other PPP ticket-holders from the minority community in the Thar region are Rana Hamir Singh, Surendar Valasai, Samtra Manjyani and Poonjo Bheel.

4. Voter turnout in NA elections 51.85pc: ECP

• The Election Commission of Pakistan on July 27, 2018 said that the voter turnout in the National Assembly elections remained 51.85 per cent.
• While highest voter turnout of 55.09 per cent was recorded in the Punjab assembly elections followed by Sindh 48.11, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 45.52 and Balochistan assembly 51.85 per cent.
• In a related development, the ECP announced results on eight hundred and thirty two seats of the National and four provincial assemblies.

5. Advocate General Punjab Imtiaz Rasheed Siddiqui resigns

• Advocate General Punjab (AGP) Imtiaz Rasheed Siddiqui on July 27, 2018 tendered his resignation, citing the reason that a new government would be made soon after the general elections.
• Imtiaz Rasheed Siddique was appointed as AGP last month on June 23. He took charge after former AGP Asma Hamid was removed from the office.
• The former Punjab government led by Shehbaz Sharif made the appointment of Asma Hamid as Advocate General Punjab few days before the Constitutional term came to an end in May.

6. Putin invites Trump to Moscow

• Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 27, 2018 invited Donald Trump to Moscow and that both he and the US president wanted further summits, despite the uproar in Washington after the two leaders met in Helsinki last week.
• `Regarding our meetings, I understand very well what President Trump said. He has a desire to have further meetings,` the Russian leader said.
• `I am ready for that. We need for the appropriate conditions to exist, to be created, including in our countries, Putin told a news conference.
• `We are ready for such meetings. We are ready to invite President Trump toMoscow. Be my guest. He has such an invitation, I told him that.

7. Over 1,000 rockets from Tipu Sultan`s time found

• Over a thousand rockets belonging to an 18th-century Muslim warrior king have been found by excavators in an abandoned well in India`s southern Karnataka state.
• The excavation of the open well in Shimoga district led to unearthing of rockets and shells that were stored by Tipu Sultan for use in wars, according to the state`s assistant director of archaeology. The powerful ruler was killed in the fourth Anglo-Mysore war in 1799 after a string of victories in battle against the British East India Company.
• He is credited with developing an early, indigenous rocket known as the Mysorean rocket, a prototype of British Congreve rockets used in the Napoleonic wars.
• It took three days for the 15-member team of archaeologists, excavators and labourers to unearth the armoury and theammunition.
• The rockets, measuring between 23 and 26 centimetres (12-14 inches), would be kept for public display at a museum in Shimoga.

8. IMF warns China against economic stimulus

• China must resist taking aggressive stimulus steps as it navigates troubled economic waters as they could add to excessive debt levels leading to an “abrupt adjustment”, the International Monetary Fund said July 27, 2018.
• The IMF warning, contained in a policy report, comes after Chinese leaders earlier this week signalled a shift toward looser fiscal policy to help barricade the world’s second-largest economy against global economic turbulence.
• After more than a year of aggressively cracking down on dangerously high debt levels, China’s cabinet said it would be more “active” in stimulating the economy, citing “external uncertainties”.
• But the IMF said “a reversion to credit-driven stimulus would further increase vulnerabilities that could eventually lead to an abrupt adjustment”.
• It urged policymakers to “stay the course” in its longer-term drive to wean China’s economy off a dependence on fast growth fuelled by exports and investment, and toward higher-quality, sustainable growth with domestic demand as a key driver.
• The IMF also lauded Beijing’s stewardship of the economy, saying growth remained solid, all the more reason to pursue economic reform now and “fix the roof while the sun is shining”.

9. US releases $195m in frozen military aid to Egypt

• The Trump administration has decided to release $195 million in military aid to Egypt that was frozen last year because of human rights concerns.
• “Recognizing steps Egypt has taken over the last year in response to specific US concerns… the administration has decided to allow Egypt to use the remaining $195 million,” the official said, without describing those steps.
• The funds for Egypt, a key US ally, were withheld last year after the passage of a law that severely restricted the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
• The United States remains committed to strengthening our strategic relationship with Egypt.
• Since 2013, international human rights groups have criticized President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s government for cracking down on secular and left-wing activists, as well as Islamists close to the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
• Human Rights Watch said last year that the NGO law would lead to “unprecedented levels of repression and … criminalize the work of many NGOs.”

10. World`s oldest person, a Japanese woman, dies at 117

• The world`s oldest person, a 117-year-old Japanese woman, has died.
• Her death was confirmed on July 27, 2018 by Kanagawa prefecture, her home state south of Tokyo.
• Miyako, born on May 2, 1901, became the world`s oldest person in April after Nabi Tajima from Kikai island in southern Japan died at the age of 117.
• Miyako`s family called her `the goddess` and remembered her as a chatty person who was patient and kind to others, according to Guinness World Records, which had certified her title. Miyako enjoyed calligraphy, which she had practiced until recently, and eating sushi and eel, Guinness said. Guinness said the successor to her world record is yet to be confirmed.
• The new oldest person in Japan is a 115-year-old woman, Kane Tanaka of Fukuoka on the southern island of Kyushu, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said.